Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle who has quit almost a decade before he was due to retire, saying the demands of his office were “too great a burden”.
Bishop Robert Byrne announced his resignation “with great sorrow and reluctance” in letters issued at the same time to the people of his diocese and to his brother bishops.
The bishop said he intended to leave Hexham and Newcastle for the Oratorian community in Oxford that he founded in 1990.
Bishop Byrne 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.
