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The Catholic dioceses in Great Britain are organised by two separate hierarchies: the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and the Catholic Church in Scotland. Within Great Britain, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has five provinces, subdivided into 22 dioceses, and the Catholic Church in Scotland has two provinces, subdivided into 8 dioceses. The Catholic dioceses in Northern Ireland are organised together with those in the Republic of Ireland, as the Catholic Church in Ireland was not divided when civil authority in Ireland was partitioned in 1921.
A diocese, also sometimes known popularly as a bishopric, is an administrative unit under the supervision of a bishop. The Diocese of Westminster is considered the mother church of English and Welsh Catholics, [1] and although not formally a primate, the Archbishop of Westminster is usually elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, providing a degree of a formal direction for the other English bishops and archbishops.
From the time of the English Reformation in the 16th century, with Catholicism being declared illegal, there were no Catholic dioceses in England and Wales. From 1688, there came to be appointed several apostolic vicars, clergymen in episcopal orders, governing a territory not in their own name, as diocesan bishops do, but provisionally in the name of the Pope. However, with the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829,[ clarification needed ] legalising the practice of the Catholic faith again, Pope Pius IX re-established the Catholic Church diocesan hierarchy on 29 September 1850 by issuing the bull Universalis Ecclesiae . The Hierarchy in Scotland was restored in 1878.
The names of the Catholic dioceses as re-established did not adopt the names of the then existing medieval dioceses, once Catholic and now (in England) Anglican. Three current English Catholic dioceses, those of Leeds, Liverpool, and Portsmouth, share their territorial name with Anglican dioceses, the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, and the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth respectively. However, in these cases the dioceses cover differing areas and the Anglican diocese was set up later than the Catholic one.
The Catholic Church in Scotland comprises two Latin ecclesiastical provinces each headed by a Metropolitan archbishop. In addition to the archbishop and his see, each province in turn contains a number of "suffragan" dioceses, each headed by a bishop. In Scotland there are a total of 6 such suffragan dioceses, making overall eight dioceses when the 2 archdioceses are included.
There is an Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain which is the institutional papal diplomatic representation at full embassy level to the British authorities. The "ambassador", who in fact carries the centuries-old title of "nuncio", has relations with the government of the United Kingdom, and in a different mode with the Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland. He has no dealings with the government of the Irish Republic nor with the Catholic bishops in any part of Ireland. A fellow nuncio, resident in Dublin, is a diplomat accredited to the Irish government and also has dealings with the Irish Catholic bishops both north and south of the border. Other Commonwealth territories are covered by a variety of analogous papal representatives, quite independently of the nuncio in London.
Diocese | Cathedral | Founded |
---|---|---|
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Birmingham | St Chad's Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Clifton | Clifton Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Shrewsbury | Shrewsbury Cathedral | 1850 |
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham |
Diocese | Cathedral | Founded |
---|---|---|
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff (heir of former Diocese of Newport founded 1850 ) | Cardiff Cathedral | 1916 |
Diocese of Menevia | Swansea Cathedral | 1898 [2] |
Diocese of Wrexham | Wrexham Cathedral | 1987 |
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff |
Diocese | Cathedral | Founded |
---|---|---|
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Liverpool | Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Hallam | Cathedral Church of St Marie | 1980 [3] |
Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle | St Mary's Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Lancaster | Lancaster Cathedral | 1924 |
Diocese of Leeds | Leeds Cathedral | 1878 |
Diocese of Middlesbrough | Middlesbrough Cathedral | 1878 |
Diocese of Salford | Salford Cathedral | 1850 |
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Liverpool |
Diocese | Cathedral | Founded |
---|---|---|
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Southwark | St George's Cathedral | 1851 |
Diocese of Arundel and Brighton | Arundel Cathedral | 1965 [4] |
Diocese of Plymouth | Plymouth Cathedral | 1850 [5] |
Diocese of Portsmouth | Cathedral of St John the Evangelist | 1882 |
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Southwark. The Channel Islands are not shown; they are part of the Diocese of Portsmouth. |
Diocese | Cathedral | Founded |
---|---|---|
Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster | Westminster Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Brentwood | Brentwood Cathedral | 1917 [6] |
Diocese of East Anglia | St John the Baptist Cathedral | 1976 [7] |
Diocese of Northampton | Northampton Cathedral | 1850 |
Diocese of Nottingham | Nottingham Cathedral | 1850 [8] |
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Westminster |
The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Pope.
The Archbishop of Cardiff is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff.
The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne, and the county of Hertfordshire, which lies immediately to London's north.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of 3,373 square miles (8,740 km2), encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of Oxfordshire as well as Caversham in Berkshire. The metropolitan see is in the City of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad. The metropolitan province includes the suffragan dioceses of Clifton and Shrewsbury.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church which covers the south-east portion of Wales and the county of Herefordshire in England. The Metropolitan Province of Cardiff therefore covers all of Wales and part of England. Cardiff's suffragan dioceses are the Diocese of Menevia and the Diocese of Wrexham.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the Lancashire District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in England. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1840 and was replaced by two dioceses in 1850.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by an apostolic vicar who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District was created in 1688 and changed its name to the Central District in 1840. It was dissolved in 1850 and was replaced by two dioceses.
The Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern District was created in 1688 and dissolved in 1850 and was replaced by the Diocese of Hexham, which changed to the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in 1861.
The Archbishop of Liverpool is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool and metropolitan of the Province of Liverpool in England.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff.
Universalis Ecclesiae was a papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given to the dioceses, as the old ones were in use by the Church of England. The bull aroused considerable anti-Catholic feeling among English Protestants.
The Catholic Church in the United Kingdom is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope. While there is no ecclesiastical jurisdiction corresponding to the political union, this article refers to the Catholic Church's geographical representation in mainland Britain as well as Northern Ireland, ever since the establishment of the UK's predecessor Kingdom of Great Britain by the Union of the Crowns in 1707.
The Diocese of Wrexham, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Beverley is an historical diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in England. It took its name after the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, although the episcopal see was located in the city of York. The diocese was established in 1850 and was replaced by two dioceses in 1878: Middlesbrough and Leeds. It was restored as a titular see in 1969.
The Diocese of Northampton is one of the 22 Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the mother church of the Diocese.
The Bishopric of the Forces is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces based in the United Kingdom and their overseas postings.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow is the metropolitan see of the Province of Glasgow in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The episcopal seat of the developing diocese was established by Saint Kentigern in the 6th century AD. It is one of two Latin Church metropolitan archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church: the only archdioceses in Scotland. It is the elder of the two bishoprics. Innocent VIII first raised Glasgow a metropolitan archbishopric in 1492. The Metropolis has the dioceses of Motherwell and Paisley as suffragans within the Ecclesiastical Province.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Newport (and Menevia) was the Latin Catholic precursor (1840-1916) in Wales and southwest England of the present Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, with see in Newport, Wales, and was revived as Latin titular see.