Pope Benedict has announced the appoinment of Bernard Longley, currently Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, as the next Archbishop of Birmingham in succession to Vincent Nichols.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the 63-year-old Archbishop of Birmingham, has been named as the new incumbent at Westminster, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales.

Following the row over the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech on Sharia law, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has said it is content that its own marriage tribunal decisions are not enforceable in civil courts.

Recognising the needs of priests from overseas and those ministering to increasingly migrant-based congregations, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has introduced a new course specifically for them at the northern seminary of Ushaw in Durham.