Background
Marcus Nigel Ralph Stock was born on 27 August 1961 in London, England.
Marcus Nigel Ralph Stock was born on 27 August 1961 in London, England.
He attended Oxford University, studying Theology at Keble College.
On 15 September 2014, he was named the tenth Bishop of Leeds succeeding Arthur Roche and consecrated on 13 November 2014. He entered training for the priesthood at the Venerable English College and was awarded a Licence in Dogmatic Theology by the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a Deacon whilst in Rome by Cardinal Basil Hume, the then Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.
Marcus Stock was ordained a priest in 1988 by the Archbishop of Birmingham Maurice Couve de Murville and served in parishes across the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
He was appointed Assistant Director before being promoted to Director of the Archdiocesan Schools Commission between 1999 and 2009, before being appointed General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops" Conference of England and Wales in the same year by Archbishop Vincent Nichols. He led the Bishops" Conference during the Papal Visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVIand was in interim charge of the Catholic Education Service after the resignation of Oona Stannard.
Shortly before his appointment as Bishop of Leeds it was announced that he would be succeeded at the Bishops" Conference by Fr Christopher Thomas from the Diocese of Nottingham at the conclusion of his five year term. In 2012, Marcus Stock was appointed Prelate of Honour by Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis appointed Manager Marcus Stock to the See of Leeds on 15 September 2014.
He chose the episcopal motto Desiderio, desideravi (Luke, 22:15) which translates as I have desired with desire to be with you.
Bishop-elect Stock attended Solemn Vespers on the eve of his consecration as bishop, where his episcopal insignia (ring, mitre and crozier) were blessed by Manager John Wilson, the Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Leeds. His crozier was given as a gift from Bishop Stock"s previous diocese, the Archdiocese of Birmingham. On 13 November 2014, Marcus Stock was consecrated the tenth Bishop of Leeds by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, along with the co-consecrators Archbishop Bernard Longley, the Archbishop of Birmingham (from the diocese Bishop Stock had previously ministered in) and Archbishop Arthur Roche, the ninth bishop and Bishop Emeritus of Leeds (who Bishop Stock succeeds).