Pope Francis’ appoints a new Bishop 

Pope Francis has appointed Canon David James Oakley as the thirteenth Bishop of Northampton. Bishop-elect Oakley served as Rector of St Mary’s College Oscott, a seminary in Birmingham for training priests for ministry in England and Wales, since February 2013. He succeeds the Right Reverend Peter Doyle whom he described as “a wonderful spiritual father and great pastor in Northampton”.

Bishop Doyle has worked closely with Bishop-elect Oakley during his seven years as rector of the seminary at Oscott, and knows him to be a man of faith and prayer, and a pastoral priest and wise teacher.