Pope Leo has appointed an auxiliary bishop in Birmingham to be the new Bishop of Brentwood.
Rt Rev Timothy Menezes succeeds Bishop Alan Williams who has retired at the age of 74, after 12 years in the role.
Describing his appointment as a "great privilege" Bishop Timothy said he "had much to learn" so would "ask the Lay Faithful, the Clergy and the Religious of the diocese to pray for me, and with me, in our shared mission as Pilgrims of Hope in a world in need of hope".
The 56 year old studied for the priesthood at St Mary’s College, Oscott, and the Venerable English College in Rome. He was ordained priest in 1995 at St Dunstan’s in Kings Heath, his childhood parish church where he was baptised, received First Holy Communion and was confirmed. He's spent much of his ministry in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, as parish priest of St Thomas More, Coventry, and then Vicar General for the Archdiocese from 2011 to 2019. He was appointed Dean of St Chad’s Cathedral in 2019, concurrently serving as parish priest of Sacred Heart and St Margaret Mary in Aston from 2022 to 2024.
He has served as Auxiliary Bishop in the archdiocese of Birmingham since 2024.
The Archbishop of Birmingham, Most Rev Bernard Longley, said he would be "greatly missed" and praised his "considerable pastoral experience and his zeal for mission".
Most Rev Richard Moth, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said he was “delighted to welcome Bishop-elect Timothy Menezes as he prepares to take up his new post as Bishop of Brentwood. He brings excellent experience, gained in his priestly and episcopal service in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, where he will be missed greatly".
Bishop Timothy said he was "grateful for all those who have shaped my life, faith and priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Birmingham over many years.
“I look forward to building on Bishop Alan's good work in the diocese and pray that Christ the Good Shepherd will help us all to be a people of thanksgiving for his many blessings, and to show his compassion to those in most need."
Bishop Timothy's Mass of Episcopal Installation as the eighth Bishop of Brentwood will take place at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Helen, Brentwood, on 3 December, the memorial of St Francis Xavier.
The Archdiocese of Brentwood covers Essex, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock and the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.