The inquiries follow complaints to the papal nuncio, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, about the diocese and Bishop Robert Byrne.

Bishop Robert Byrne CO resigned in December 2022, saying that “discernment has caused me to recognise that I now feel unable to continue serving the people of the diocese in the way that I would wish”. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales/Mazur

The Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle is in turmoil after four inquiries, including one by the Vatican, have been launched into what happened there during the tenure of its former bishop, Robert Byrne.

Archbishop Malcom McMahon of Liverpool, who has taken over as administrator of Hexham and Newcastle, has been asked by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, to report on what led to the resignation of Byrne who quit in December, citing that the burdens of office were “too great a burden”.

The Vatican review and the other inquiries…