List of Catholic dioceses in Great Britain

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Map of Dioceses of England and Wales

England and Wales (red), with the rest of the United Kingdom (pink)

Westminster Cathedral, considered the Catholic mother church of England and Wales

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 of England and Wales has five provinces, subdivided into 22 dioceses, and the Catholic Church of 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 Church in Ireland was not divided when civil authority in Ireland was partitioned in the 1920s.

A diocese, also known 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. In time, there came to be appointed several apostolic vicars, bishops of titular sees governing not in their own name, as diocesan bishops do, but provisionally in the name of the Pope. However, with the passing of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, 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.

Three 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.

The Catholic Church in Scotland comprises two Latin ecclesiastical provinces each headed by a Metropolitan archbishop. The provinces in turn are subdivided into 6 dioceses and 2 archdioceses, each headed by a bishop or an archbishop, respectively.

There is an Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain as papal diplomatic representation (embassy-level) to the British authorities (UK)

Current Latin provinces and sees in Great Britain[]

Episcopal Conference of England and Wales[]

Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham (founded 1911)[]

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
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

Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff (founded 1916)[]

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff	Cardiff Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Menevia	Swansea Cathedral	1898[2]
Diocese of Wrexham	Wrexham Cathedral	1987
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff

Ecclesiastical province of Liverpool (founded 1911)[]

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
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

Ecclesiastical province of Southwark (founded 1965)[]

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
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.

Ecclesiastical province of Westminster (founded 1850)[]

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

Episcopal conference of Scotland[]

Map of dioceses in Scotland

Ecclesiastical province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh[]

• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh (cathedral St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh; established 1878)
  • Diocese of Aberdeen (cathedral St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen; established 1878)
  • Diocese of Argyll and the Isles (cathedral St Columba's Cathedral, Oban; established 1878; originally in the Province of Glasgow)
  • Diocese of Dunkeld (cathedral St Andrew's Cathedral, Dundee; established 1878)
  • Diocese of Galloway (cathedral St Margaret's Cathedral, Ayr; established 1878; originally in the Province of Glasgow)

Ecclesiastical province of Glasgow[]

• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Glasgow (cathedral St Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow; established 1878)
  • Diocese of Motherwell (cathedral Cathedral of Our Lady of Good Aid, Motherwell; established 1947)
  • Diocese of Paisley (cathedral St Mirin's Cathedral, Paisley; established 1947)

Eastern Catholic and other exempt[]

• The Bishopric of the Forces in Great Britain (1917) is the Military Ordinariate for all British armed forces, even outside the UK

• The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain (2016)

• The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London (1957)

The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Pope.

• The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (2011) is one of three Personal Ordinariates. The ordinariates were established in order to enable "groups of Anglicans"^[9] to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony. Personal Ordinariates are headed by Ordinaries.

Defunct jurisdictions[]

• Archpriest of England from 1598 to 1621.
• Apostolic Vicariate of England from 1623 to 1688 when it was divided into four districts that lasted until a general redivision in 1840:

• Apostolic Vicariate of the London District until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Western District until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District until 1840
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern District until 1850

• Apostolic Vicariate of the Welsh District created from Western District in 1840 until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Central District created from Midland District in 1840 until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Eastern District created from Midland District in 1840 until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Lancashire District created from the Northern District in 1840 until 1850
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Yorkshire District created from the Northern District in 1840 until 1850

• Diocese of Beverley, from 1850 to 1878, replaced by the Diocese of Leeds and the Diocese of Middlesbrough.
• Diocese of Newport and Menevia, from 1850 to 1895, replaced by the Diocese of Newport, which became the Archdiocese of Cardiff in 1916, and the Apostolic Vicariate of Wales, which became the Diocese of Menevia in 1898.
• Prefecture Apostolic of Scotland from 1653 to 1694.
• Apostolic Vicariate of Scotland from 1694 to 1727 when it split into two districts that lasted until 1827:

• Apostolic Vicariate of the Lowland District
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Highland District

• Apostolic Vicariate of the Eastern District from 1827 to 1878 when it became the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Western District from 1827 to 1878 when it became the Archdiocese of Glasgow
• Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern District from 1827 to 1878 when it became the Diocese of Aberdeen.

See also[]

• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain
• Catholic Church in England and Wales

Scotland

• Catholic Church in Scotland
• Bishops' Conference of Scotland
• Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in Scotland

References[]

Sources and external links[]

• GCatholic.org - England and Wales
• Catholic-Hierarchy entry

Scotland

• GCatholic.org - Scotland
• Catholic-Hierarchy Scotland
• Edinburgh Statistics
• Glasgow Statistics