Archbishop O’Toole Re-Appointed Vatican Catechesis Council, Cardiff 2026

Key Points

• Archbishop Mark O’Toole of Cardiff-Menevia has been reappointed by Pope Leo XIV for another five-year term as a member of the International Council for Catechesis (Co.In.Cat.).
• The Council is an agency under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
• The reappointment has been made official through a letter from the Dicastery after receiving the blessing of the Holy Father.
• The announcement has been made by the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia on Thursday, August 20, 2026.
• Archbishop O’Toole described the reappointment as being “humbled”.
• The reappointment is said to be “a proud moment” by the Archdiocese.
• The archbishop’s parishioners have been urged to pray for the archbishop for the next five years.
• Archbishop O’Toole was appointed to the Council back in November 2021 when he was a Bishop of Plymouth.
• International Council for Catechesis was founded in 1973 during the time of Saint Paul VI.

Cardiff (Wales Times) August 20, 2026 – The Archdiocese of uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff-Menevia has announced that Archbishop Mark O’Toole has been re-appointed by Pope Leo XIV for a further five-year term as a member of the International Council for Catechesis (Co.In.Cat.), a body within the Dicastery for Evangelisation.

The appointment was confirmed in a letter from the Dicastery, following the Holy Father’s approval, and recognises Archbishop Mark O’Toole’s ongoing contribution to the work of catechesis across the universal Church.

Commenting on the re-appointment, Archbishop Mark said:

“I am humbled to be re-appointed to the International Council for Catechesis by the Holy See. I look forward to encouraging a deeper love of the Lord in all that we do and helping those who do not know Jesus, into an encounter with Him.”

The Archdiocese has described the re-appointment as a proud moment, and a reminder of the vital role catechesis plays in helping people encounter Christ. Clergy and faithful across the Archdiocese are asked to keep Archbishop Mark O’Toole in their prayers as he continues this work over the next five years.

What is the International Council for Catechesis?

The International Council for Catechesis (Co.In.Cat.) was established in 1973 under Saint Paul VI, with the aim of studying the most important issues in catechesis and encouraging the sharing of experiences between experts in the field, on the one hand, and the Apostolic See and the Episcopal Conferences, on the other. As a body within the Dicastery for Evangelisation, the council advises the Holy See on matters relating to the teaching of the Catholic faith. It operates within the Dicastery for Evangelisation, whose Pro-Prefect is Archbishop Rino Fisichella, and it draws its members from bishops and experts representing different realities of the Church across the world. The Holy See has been confirming appointments to the council this year; in August 2026 the Dicastery announced the appointment of Salesian Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao in India to the same body, in a five-year appointment confirmed in a letter from Archbishop Fisichella.

Who is Archbishop Mark O’Toole?

Born in London on 22 June 1963, the youngest son of Marcus and Maura O’Toole, who originally came from the Irish-speaking community of Connemara, Galway, Ireland, Archbishop O’Toole attended St Ignatius Primary School, Stamford Hill, and St Thomas More Secondary School in Wood Green. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Westminster on 9 June 1990 and served as assistant priest in St Mary Magdalene parish, Willesden Green, for five years before being appointed Dean of Studies at Westminster’s seminary, Allen Hall. From 2002 to 2008 he was Private Secretary to Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, then Archbishop of Westminster, and in September 2008 he was appointed Rector of Allen Hall Seminary. He was ordained Bishop of Plymouth on 28 January 2014.

On 27 April 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, uniting the two sees in persona episcopi. He was installed at St David’s Cathedral, Cardiff, on 20 June 2022 and at St Joseph’s Cathedral, Swansea, on 23 June 2022. On 12 September 2024, Pope Francis merged the two jurisdictions into the new Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, making O’Toole its first metropolitan archbishop.

When was Archbishop O’Toole first appointed to the council?

Archbishop O’Toole was first named a member of the International Council for Catechesis in November 2021, when he was Bishop of Plymouth and Chair of the Bishops’ Conference’s Department for Evangelisation and Discipleship. At that time, Pope Francis appointed fifteen new members to the Council.

What is Archbishop O’Toole’s role in the Bishops’ Conference?

Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Archbishop O’Toole chairs the Department for Evangelisation and Discipleship. He is also chair of the Department for Christian Life and Worship. Earlier this year he received the pallium from Pope Leo XIV in St Peter’s Basilica on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, alongside Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, in a celebration that included the imposition of the pallium on 48 new metropolitan archbishops.

How was the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia formed?

The new archdiocese was created by a decision promulgated by Pope Francis on 12 September 2024, coinciding with the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. The announcement was read in churches across the region on the weekend of 14 and 15 September, and Archbishop O’Toole became the first archbishop of the united see.

Background of the Development

The re-appointment builds on a long association between Archbishop O’Toole and the work of catechesis at the universal level of the Church. His national responsibilities as Chair of the Department of Evangelisation and Discipleship were recognised by the Holy See in his original membership of the International Council for Catechesis. The council’s remit, to study the most important issues in catechesis and encourage the sharing of experiences between experts and the Apostolic See, aligns closely with the archbishop’s pastoral and educational work across Wales and beyond. His predecessor as Archbishop of Cardiff, George Stack, had earlier welcomed O’Toole’s national responsibilities, noting that his role as Chair of the Department of Evangelisation and Discipleship had been recognised by the Holy See in his membership of the International Council for Catechesis.

Prediction: How the Development Could Affect the Audience

For the clergy, catechists and faithful of the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, the re-appointment is expected to strengthen the archdiocese’s connection to the universal Church and to the Vatican’s teaching on the faith. As Archbishop O’Toole continues to serve on the International Council for Catechesis, the archdiocese is likely to remain closely involved in the development of catechetical guidance and the promotion of evangelisation. The archbishop’s stated aim of helping those who do not know Jesus into an encounter with Him suggests that local parishes may see a continued emphasis on outreach and faith formation over the next five years. For the wider Catholic community in England and Wales, the re-appointment maintains a Welsh voice at the heart of the Church’s global catechetical work, and it is likely to reinforce the archbishop’s standing as a leading figure in the Church’s evangelisation efforts both nationally and internationally.