Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Stephen Wright, a Birmingham auxiliary bishop since 2020, as the new bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.
The 52-year-old bishop succeeds Bishop Robert Byrne, who resigned in December at the age of 68 after only three years in office. A recent report by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency found that Bishop Byrne, by promoting a priest with a “clear pattern of grooming behavior,” put others at risk of sexual abuse.