Charles Phillip Richard Moth (born 8 July 1958) is a British

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

. Since May 2015, he has served as the

Bishop of Arundel and Brighton The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in the Province of Southwark, England. The bishop's official residence is Bishop's House, The Upper Drive, Hove, East Sussex. The most rec ...

. Previously, he was

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of the Archdiocese of Southwark from 2001 to 2009, and the Bishop of the Forces from 2009 to 2015.

Early life

Charles Phillip Richard Moth was born in 1958 in

Chingola Chingola is a city in Zambia's Copperbelt Province, the country's copper-mining region, with a population of 216,626 (2010 census). It is the home of Nchanga Copper Mine, a deep-shaft high-grade content copper mining operation, which subsequent ...

, Northern Rhodesia (now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

), and immigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

at the age of two. He was educated at

The Judd School The Judd School (often known simply as Judd) is a voluntary aided grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years before moving to its present ...

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He trained for the priesthood at

St John's Seminary, Wonersh St John's Seminary was a Roman Catholic seminary located at Wonersh near Guildford in Surrey, in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, United Kingdom. St John's was the principal seminary for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and the Archdioc ...

Ordained ministry

Priesthood

Moth was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the

priesthood (Catholic Church) The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

on 3 July 1982. He served as Curate at St Bede's,

Clapham Park Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton. History The original Clapham Park Estate was a speculative development by Thomas Cubitt, who bought of Bleak Hall Farm in 1825 ...

and as a judge at the Southwark Metropolitan Tribunal before being sent to do further study in Ottawa, gaining a Licentiate and then a Master's in Canon Law. In 1987 he returned to Southwark and was curate at St Saviour's,

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

, during which appointment he was also a Territorial Army chaplain, serving with 217 General Hospital RAMC (V). In 1992, Archbishop Michael Bowen named him as his Private Secretary, serving concurrently as Vocations Director and Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese. Moth was named a

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

to the degree of Papal Chaplain in 1998. In 2001, upon the elevation of the Vicar General, Mgr Canon John Hine, to be an Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, Moth was named

and Chancellor of the Archdiocese, with the new post he was promoted to be a

Prelate of Honour A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.Bishop of the Forces by Pope Benedict XVI. He stepped down as Vicar General of Southwark and was succeeded by Mgr. Matthew Dickens in September 2009. He was

consecrated bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on 29 September 2009, the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, in

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

. Archbishop

Kevin McDonald Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably th ...

was principal consecrator, with Archbishop Michael Bowen and Bishop Tom Burns as principal co-consecrators. Archbishop

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birmin ...

and Cardinals

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British cardinal, the Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He s ...

and Keith O'Brien were present in choir. His time as Bishop of the Forces ended in 2015 when he was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to a different see. On 21 March 2015, Moth was announced as the next

, having been appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. He was installed on 28 May 2015.

References

Bibliography

Bishop-elect Richard Moth
''Archdiocese of Southwark''. Retrieved 12 September 2009.

''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
New Bishop of the Forces
''Catholic Church in England and Wales''. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
Bishop Richard Moth
''Catholic Church in England and Wales''. Retrieved 12 September 2009.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moth, Richard 1958 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Arundel and Brighton Roman Catholic bishops of the Forces 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers English Roman Catholic bishops