Leo names apostolic administrator after English bishop charged
Archbishop Moth will take caretaker charge of the Diocese of Northampton after Bishop Oakley was charged with rape of a minor.
Pope Leo XIV named an administrator Tuesday to oversee an English diocese after its bishop was charged with the rape of a minor.
The pope named Archbishop Richard Moth as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Northampton June 30, days after police confirmed that Bishop David Oakley faced two counts of rape of a female under the age of 16, following an investigation into historical allegations.
The Northampton diocese, which serves around 180,000 Catholics in central England, is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Westminster, which Moth has led since February 2026.
Leo XIV specified that Moth will be apostolic administrator sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis (while the see is occupied and at the discretion of the Holy See). This means that Oakley retains the title of Bishop of Northampton as he prepares for an initial court hearing Aug. 14 — the bishop announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence for “personal reasons” in October last year, following his undisclosed arrest in relation to the charges he now faces.
The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales explained June 30 that Moth’s appointment was “a temporary role, by which the Holy See ensures that the pastoral governance of a diocese will continue, when it is not possible for a diocesan Bishop to exercise his office.”
“Therefore, the governance of the Diocese of Northampton is now canonically entrusted to Archbishop Moth,” it said.
Moth, who will remain based at Archbishop’s House in Westminster, said he was “humbled” by the pope’s decision to appoint him as apostolic administrator.
“I ask those whom I am called to serve to pray for me, that the Lord will continue to give me His spiritual guidance and wisdom needed to fulfill these duties,” he said.
Oakley, 70, has served as Bishop of Northampton since 2020, after spending seven years as rector of St. Mary’s College, Oscott, a seminary in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, where he was incardinated as a priest in 1980.
Oakley was arrested on suspicion of rape involving a minor by Staffordshire Police in September 2025 and released on conditional bail as the investigation continued. The arrest was reported by U.K. media in January 2026, but the bishop was not named for legal reasons.
The Northampton diocese said in October 2025 that Oakley had “taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.”
It added that the bishop had appointed vicar general Canon Michael Harrison “to provisionally take on the governance of Northampton diocese” until Oakley returned from the leave of absence.
Reporting at the time described Oakley as a leading candidate to succeed Cardinal Vincent Nichols as the Archbishop of Westminster, a post ultimately entrusted to Moth in December 2025.
The Northampton diocese confirmed on June 24, 2026, that Oakley had been charged “after an investigation into non-recent safeguarding allegations.” The alleged offenses are understood to date back to between February 2000 and February 2001.
“We understand that this will be very distressing for all concerned but cannot comment further on an active legal process,” the diocese said.
Archbishop Moth, the president of the English and Welsh bishops’ conference since April, and Archbishop Bernard Longley, the conference’s vice president, noted June 25 that the news of the charges against Oakley was “deeply distressing for all, both within the Catholic community and beyond.”
“We are profoundly aware that the report of this allegation may reawaken painful memories for many people and again offer an unreserved apology to those who have been hurt by abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales,” they said.
“In this moment, we would like to provide pastoral reassurance on the commitment of the Church to safeguarding.”
“The Catholic Church in England and Wales maintains a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in the Church and in wider society, and we are cooperating fully with the statutory authorities.”