The Rector of Oscott seminary, Canon David Oakley, has been appointed the new Bishop of Northampton.
Canon Oakley, 64, will be installed as the diocese’s thirteenth bishop on 19 March, the Solemnity of St Joseph, and will receive his episcopal ordination from Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
He replaces Bishop Peter Doyle, who reached the canonical age of retirement last year. The diocese said in statement: “Bishop Peter Doyle rejoices in this good news. The Bishop has worked closely with Bishop Elect David during his seven years as rector of the seminary at Oscott, and knows him to be a man of faith and prayer, and a pastoral priest and wise teacher.”
Canon Oakley was born in 1955 in Stourbridge, the eldest of five children. He trained for the priesthood at Oscott and was ordained in 1980. He served in several parishes in the Archdiocese of Birmingham before being appointed Pastoral Director and Procurator at Oscott in 1994. He was appointed Rector of Oscott in February 2013.
