This Tuesday, October 21, 2025, the Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Mons. Nicholas Gilbert Hudson, until now auxiliary bishop of Westminster, as bishop of the diocese of Plymouth (England).
Academic Background and Priestly Formation
Mons. Hudson was born on February 14, 1959, in Wimbledon, London. He carried out his studies at Wimbledon College, run by the Jesuits, and later at Jesus College of the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a Master's in History. Later, he entered the Venerable English College in Rome and studied Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, obtaining the Baccalaureate and Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology.
He was ordained a priest on July 19, 1986, for the Archdiocese of Southwark.
Pastoral Experience and Positions Held
After his ordination, he served as parish vicar in Saint Thomas of Canterbury (1987-1991) and then continued his studies at the Catholic University of Louvain. Between 1993 and 2000, he was director of the Christian Education Centre of Southwark.
From 2000 to 2004, he was vice-rector and then rector (2004-2013) of the Venerable English College in Rome. In 2013, he returned to England, where he served as pastor of The Sacred Heart in Wimbledon.
Episcopal Ministry
On March 31, 2014, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Westminster and titular of Sanctus Germanus, receiving episcopal ordination on June 4 of the same year. In the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, he has served as episcopal secretary, president of the International Affairs department, and moderator of the Coordination for the Holy Land.
He was also a member of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and an observer in the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE).
A Diocese in Southwest England
The Diocese of Plymouth, erected in 1850, covers the counties of Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall. With this appointment, Mons. Hudson assumes the pastoral mission of guiding a local Church marked by secularization, but also by a growing cultural and ecclesial diversity.
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