“In each diocese the diocesan bishop must appoint a vicar general who is provided with ordinary power according to the norm of the following canons and who is to assist him in the governance of the whole diocese.  As a general rule, one vicar general is to be appointed unless the size of the diocese, the number of inhabitants, or other pastoral reasons suggest otherwise.” (Canon 475)

Canon Anthony Kay is the Vicar General of the Diocese. He has been the Financial Secretary of the Diocese since February 2009 and was appointed Vicar General in March 2010 following the appointment of Monsignor Mark Davies, the previous Vicar General, as co-adjutor Bishop of Shrewsbury.

A Vicar General is the principal deputy of the Bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. The Vicar General exercises the Bishop’s ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese after the diocesan Bishop or his equivalent in canon law. The title normally occurs only in western Christian churches, such as the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

In the Catholic Church, a diocesan bishop must appoint at least one Vicar General for his diocese, but may appoint more – larger dioceses or archdioceses routinely have two or even three. The Vicar General, by virtue of the office, is the Bishop's agent in administration, acting as second-in-command for diocesan executive matters (a priest in a separate office, the judicial vicar, serves a similar role with regard to the exercise of ordinary judicial power of governance in the diocese which is normally exercised in ecclesiastical courts). Vicars General must be priests, auxiliary Bishops, or coadjutor Bishops. A Vicar General is a local ordinary and, as such, acquires his powers by virtue of office and not by delegation.

Priests appointed as Vicars General are freely appointed or removed by the diocesan Bishop, and are appointed for a fixed duration. They lose their office when the term expires, or when the episcopal see falls vacant.