Mark O'Toole (born 22 June 1963) is a British Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia since its formation on 12 September 2024. He had held the two offices of

Archbishop of Cardiff The Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia is the ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. The position came about after the merger of the Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia in 2024, afte ...

and

Bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia was the ordinary of the Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff in the Catholic Church in Wales. The Diocese of Menevia covered an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, ...

since 2022.

Early life and education

O'Toole was born in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, England, and attended St Ignatius Primary School,

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

and St Thomas More Secondary school in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

, leaving in 1981 with four ‘A’ levels before going to the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

, where he graduated with a B.Sc. in geography in 1984. "Rector of Allen Hall Seminary Mgr Mark O’Toole appointed as new Bishop of Plymouth", ''News Centre'', Diocese of Westminster, 2 May 2015
/ref> He commenced his studies for the priesthood at Allen Hall Seminary in Chelsea and was ordained a priest on 9 June 1990 by

Basil Hume George Basil Hume (born George Haliburton Hume; 2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in 1999. A member of the Benedictines, he was made a cardinal i ...

for the

Archdiocese of Westminster The Archdiocese of Westminster (Latin: ''Dioecesis Vestmonasteriensis'') is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Speltho ...

at the Church of St Ignatius, Stamford Hill, London. Between 1990 and 1992 he studied for an M.Phil. in theology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Between 2002 and 2008 he served as the private secretary to

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 2000 to 2009. He was also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made ...

before his appointment as the rector of

Allen Hall Seminary Allen Hall Seminary, often abbreviated to Allen Hall, is the Roman Catholic seminary and theological college of the Province of Westminster at 28 Beaufort Street, Chelsea, Beaufort Street in Chelsea, London, in the London Borough of Kensington and ...

in September 2008.

Episcopal ministry

On 9 November 2013, O'Toole was appointed the ninth bishop of Plymouth by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 28 January 2014. He was the first new bishop of England and Wales appointed by Pope Francis. In O'Toole's homily during the Stella Maris Mass for seafarers on 25 September 2014 in

Plymouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface in Plymouth, England, is the seat of the Bishop of Plymouth and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, which covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The Diocese ...

, O'Toole expressed an affinity with the mission of the

Apostleship of the Sea Stella Maris is an international agency of the Catholic Church that provides pastoral care to seafarers, other maritime workers, and their families. Stella Maris offers practical and pastoral care to all seafarers, regardless of nationality, beli ...

, the Catholic charity that provides pastoral and practical support to all seafarers. He said this was because his grandfather was something of a seafarer and fisherman who owned his own boat and made a living in trading goods and supplies off the West coast of Ireland.
Bishop Mark O'Toole in Stella Maris Mass 2014 Homily. On 27 April 2022, Pope Francis appointed O'Toole Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, Archbishop of Cardiff, succeeding

George Stack George Stack KC*HS CStJ (born 9 May 1946) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was installed as the seventh Archbishop of Cardiff on 20 June 2011 and retired on 20 June 2022. Biography George Stack was born in Cork, Ireland, on 9 M ...

. At the same time, he named him

, thereby uniting the two dioceses in the person of a single bishop. His installation took place in

Cardiff Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David ( Welsh: Eglwys Gadeiriol Fetropolitan Dewi Sant), also known as St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, is a Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales, and is the centre of the Archdiocese o ...

on 20 June 2022, the feast day of Welsh martyrs Saints Julius and Aaron. On 12 September 2024, Pope Francis merged the two ecclesiastical jurisdictions O'Toole was leading into the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, and O'Toole became the first archbishop of that archdiocese.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:OToole, Mark 1963 births Living people Roman Catholic clergy from London 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Roman Catholic bishops of Plymouth English people of Irish descent Alumni of the University of Leicester Roman Catholic bishops of Menevia Roman Catholic archbishops of Cardiff Roman Catholic archbishops of Cardiff-Menevia Bishops appointed by Pope Francis