Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has today, 19 December, appointed the Right Reverend Richard Moth as Archbishop of Westminster.
Ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Southwark on 3 July 1982, Archbishop-elect Moth has served as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton since 2015. Prior to that, he was the Catholic Bishop of the Forces from 2009 to 2015.
Archbishop-elect Moth will become the 12th Archbishop of Westminster, succeeding Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who has served in the role since 2009. Cardinal Nichols will now become Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Westminster until Archbishop-elect Moth is Installed at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, 14 February 2026.
Archbishop Bernard Longley and Bishop Richard Moth have released a statement affirming what the coming of Christ at Christmas means to Catholics, expressing their shared concern at societal tensions and division in our communities, something that does not “reflect the spirit or message of Christmas.”
The Chair of the Department for Dialogue and Unity, and Chair of the Department for Social Justice of the Bishops’ Conference respectively, Archbishop Longley and Bishop Moth describe our participation in Advent and the celebration of Christmas as “our lived response in opposition to those who seek division.”
The statement presents hope, joy, peace, and love as the incarnational antidote to these divisions.
Pope Leo XIV has issued his message for the 59th World Day of Peace, which will take place on 1 January 2026.
The World Day of Peace is observed each year on January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Since its establishment in 1967 by Pope St Paul VI, the Popes have taken the occasion to offer magisterial reflections in Messages for the day, dealing with topics such as the United Nations, human rights, diplomacy, and economic development.
The 'Wave of Hope' Advent series offers 25 short multimedia reflections for the season - one a day - as our contributors share a moment in 2025 that has led them to a place of hope.
Members of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, will be asked to decide whether Wales should give its consent to Westminster’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — a law that would legalise assisted suicide. This would be a profound change for Wales and would mean that, for the first time, doctors could be asked to assist a patient in ending their life intentionally.
If enacted, this bill would put the most vulnerable in our society at risk of coercion. The conscientious objection clause for doctors is inadequate. Furthermore, parliament has explicitly rejected an amendment whereby care homes and hospices could opt out of facilitating assisted suicide on their premises and yet many care homes and hospices will want no involvement. Even with stricter rules, experience from other countries shows that once assisted suicide is introduced, the safeguards soon loosen and those who are elderly, disabled, or feel they are a burden begin to feel subtle pressure to choose death.
Write to a Member of the Senedd
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has passed through the House of Commons and is now with the House of Lords. Our clear principled objection to the Bill remains. The House of Lords has a responsibility to scrutinise the Bill in depth and reject it if necessary.
Unlike MPs, Members of the House of Lords do not have constituents, meaning there is not a Peer whose job it is to represent you based on the area of the country in which you live. For this reason you should take some time to think about which Peer you will write to and why, such as whether you have a personal or professional connection with them, or you have professional expertise in medicine or healthcare.
Please visit this link for full guidance to help you write to a Peer.
Stop the 'Up to Birth Clause (191)' in the Crime and Policing Bill that seeks to fundamentally change our laws on abortion. Please take action and make your voice heard. In June 2025, pro-abortion MPs, led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, hijacked the Crime and Policing Bill to rush through the abortion up to birth clause (191) after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The Antoniazzi clause would make it more likely that healthy babies are aborted at home for any reason, up to birth. The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth.
If this amendment becomes law, it would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women.
Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. It marks the start of the Church’s liturgical year. In 2025, we enter Cycle A.
Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’. It’s a key time in which we prepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord coming into the world as the incarnate God of love.
The liturgical vestments priests wear during the season are purple, matching the candles lit on each Sunday of Advent. Purple is a colour typically associated with penance. The exception is the third Sunday – Gaudete Sunday – when priests wear pink vestments – the colour of rejoicing.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, through its Biblical Apostolate, and Birmingham Newman University are conducting research into neurodiversity and our faith. If you're an adult neurodivergent Catholic or a caregiver of a neurodivergent Catholic, we want to hear from you. Your experiences will help us to become more aware of and responsive to your needs. Please complete our short surveys.
Join a dynamic team responsible for communicating the work and mission of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, you will contribute to planning, creating, and delivering high-quality media and communications content across multiple platforms. The role requires someone able to help prioritise the primacy of storytelling for the mission and work of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales by harnessing the power of compelling content.
St George's Roman Catholic Church