Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle quits as job becomes 'too great a burden'

The Right Reverend Robert Byrne had been in the role since 2019

The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle has quit after three years saying the role had become "too great a burden".

The Right Reverend Robert Byrne said he had resigned "with great sorrow" and a "heavy heart" in a letter read out to diocese parishioners on Sunday.

He said he was leaving Hexham and Newcastle for the Oratorian community in Oxford that he founded in 1990.

Archbishop of Liverpool Malcolm McMahon will oversee the diocese until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop.

Bishop Byrne succeeded the Right Reverend Seamus Cunningham to become the 14th bishop of the diocese in 2019.

The diocese covers churches including the Cathedral Church of St Mary

In his letter he wrote: "For some time now I have been discerning my future and after much prayer and reflection, it is with a heavy heart that I now find the office of the diocesan bishop has become too great a burden and feel I can no longer serve the people of the diocese in the way I would wish.

"Since my installation as bishop, I have been grateful for the welcome and support of so many clergy and laity across the diocese.

"I now intend to seek new ways to exercise my episcopal ministry to as full an extent as I can and for as long as I am able, and in this, I ask for your prayers for me, as I continue to remember you in mine."