| The Right Reverend Arthur Roche |
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| Bishop of Leeds | |
| Province | Liverpool |
| Metropolis | Liverpool |
| Diocese | Leeds |
| See | Leeds |
| Appointed | 16 July 2002 (Coadjutor Bishop) |
| Enthroned | 7 April 2004 |
| Predecessor | David Every Konstant |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 19 July 1975 |
| Consecration | 10 May 2001 by Cormac Murphy-O'Connor |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Arthur Roche |
| Born | 6 March 1950 Batley Carr, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Styles of Arthur Roche |
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| Reference style | Right Reverend |
| Spoken style | My Lord |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Arthur Roche (born March 6, 1950) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the ninth and current Bishop of Leeds.
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Arthur Roche was born in Batley Carr, Yorkshire to Arthur and Frances Roche, and attended St. Joseph's Primary School, St. John Fisher High School, and Christleton Hall. From 1969 to 1975, he studied at St. Alban's College in Valladolid, Spain, where he obtained a degree in theology from the Comillas Pontifical University. Roche, upon his return to England, was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William Wheeler on July 19, 1975.
He then served as assistant pastor at Holy Rood Church in Barnsley until 1978, whence he became private secretary to Bishop Wheeler. Roche was appointed vice-chancellor of the Diocese of Leeds in 1979, and organized the visit of Pope John Paul II to York in May 1982. From 1982 to 1989, he served on the staff of St. Anne's Cathedral.
Roche was the diocesan Financial Secretary from 1986 to 1991, during which time he was also named pastor of St. Wilfrid's Church in January 1989. In 1991, he furthered his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and later became spiritual director of the Venerable English College. Roche was made General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (April 1996) and then raised to rank of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness.
On April 12, 2001, Roche was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Rusticiana by John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 10 from Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, with Bishops David Konstant and Victor Guazzelli serving as co-consecrators.
After his term as General Secretary of the CBCEW ended in April 2002, Roche was named Coadjutor Bishop of Leeds on July 16 of that year. He succeeded Bishop Konstant upon the latter's retirement on April 7, 2004, becoming the ninth Bishop of Leeds. Since July 2002, Roche has been chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, which oversees the translation of the Mass into English. He has earned a fair amount of controversy during his tenure for issuing restrictive guidelines for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and for closing parishes in his diocese.[1]
His name had been mentioned as a possible successor to Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor as Archbishop of Westminster and thus leader of the Church in England and Wales.[2] He was even said to be the Cardinal's favoured candidate.[3] His name had also been mentioned as a possible successor to Archbishop Kevin McDonald as Archbishop of Southwark. However, he was not appointed to either of those posts.
As the official chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy Roche has announced the new translation of the Mass into English is ready and will be introduced into the parishes in September. [4]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by David Every Konstant |
Bishop of Leeds 2004–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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