At the beginning of November 2024, just before I was to begin my ministry in Plymouth, I let it be known that concerns of a personal nature had been raised, to which I had to attend immediately. This has taken longer than I anticipated.
All things considered, I have come to the decision to present to the Holy Father a request to step down from my appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Plymouth. The Holy Father has accepted my request.
For the immediate future, I will be taking a sabbatical: a time of prayer and personal reflection, the next stage on the journey of my ministry.
I realise, with regret, that this leaves a continuing vacancy in the Diocese of Plymouth. I assure the lay faithful, clergy and religious of the Diocese of my good wishes and prayers, and ask the same of them for me.
Bishop Philip Moger
