Union of Cardiff and Menevia, Wales, and appointment of the metropolitan archbishop of the new archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia

The Holy Father has united the metropolitan archdiocese of Cardiff and the diocese of Menevia, Wales, and has appointed Archbishop Mark O’Toole, respectively archbishop and bishop of the two dioceses united in persona Episcopi, as metropolitan archbishop of the new archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.

Curriculum vitae

Archbishop Mark O’Toole was born on 22 June 1963 in London. He was awarded a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Leicester and one in theology at Heythrop. He subsequently obtained a degree in philosophy from Campion Hall, Oxford, and in theology from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

On 9 June 1990 he was ordained a priest for the metropolitan archdiocese of Westminster.

He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest of Willesden Green, dean of studies of the Allen Hall Seminary (1996-2002), personal secretary to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor (2002), rector of the Allen Hall Seminary (2008), member of the Ethical Committee of Saint John and Saint Elizabeth Hospital and counsellor of the Heythrop College Faculty of Theology, London.

He was appointed bishop of Plymouth on 9 November 2013, receiving episcopal consecration the following 28 January.

On 27 April 2022 he was created metropolitan archbishop of Cardiff and bishop of Menevia, Wales, uniting the two Sees in persona Episcopi.

Within the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales he chairs the Department of Evangelization and Catechesis. He is also member of the International Council for Catechesis within the Dicastery for Evangelization.

The following are the statistical data of the new archdiocese: