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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
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