Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham
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Archdiocese of Birmingham Archidioecesis Birminghamiensis | |
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![]() Coat of arms | |
Location | |
Country | ![]() |
Territory | Counties of Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire |
Ecclesiastical province | Birmingham |
Deaneries | 18 - Banbury, Birmingham (Cathedral), Birmingham (East), Birmingham (North), Birmingham (South), Coventry, Dudley, Kidderminster, Lichfield, North Staffordshire, Oxford (North), Oxford (South), Rugby, Stafford, Walsall, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester |
Subdivisions | 3 Episcopal Areas |
Statistics | |
Area | 8,735 km2 (3,373 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members) | (as of 2015) 4,993,000 443,300 (8.9%) |
Parishes | 224 |
Schools | 250 |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 29 September 1850 (As Diocese of Birmingham) 28 October 1911 (As Archdiocese of Birmingham) |
Cathedral | Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad, Birmingham |
Patron Saints | Our Blessed Lady Conceived Without Sin (8 December), Saint Chad (1 March) |
Secular priests | 214 (+100 deacons) |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Most Rev. Bernard Longley |
Auxiliary Bishops | |
Vicar General | Very Rev. Canon Richard Walker VG |
Episcopal Vicars |
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Judicial Vicar | Rev. Fr. Joseph McLoughlin |
Bishops emeritus |
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Map | |
![]() The Archdiocese of Birmingham within the Province of Birmingham | |
Website | |
birminghamdiocese.org.uk |
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 Archbishop is Bernard Longley, who was named the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009. He succeeds the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols (2000–09). Bishop Longley was installed as Archbishop of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad on 8 December 2009, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and one of the patronal feasts of the Archdiocese, St Chad being the other.
History[]
Erected as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Midlands District in 1688, the vicariate grew very slowly until the advent of the industrial revolution. In response to large growth the name was changed in 1840 to the Vicariate Apostolic of Central District and a new vicariate created out of the eastern district.
Finally, in September 1850, the vicariate was elevated to a full diocese, as the Diocese of Birmingham, along with the Diocese of Nottingham and the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The diocese was then suffragan to the Archdiocese of Westminster.
The Diocese of Birmingham was elevated to archdiocese status on 28 October 1911.
Diocesan boundaries[]
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The Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Reverend Bernard Longley, has overall episcopal oversight of the diocese that is divided into three pastoral areas, each of which is headed by an auxiliary bishop and contains a number of deaneries:
- Central and Western Pastoral Area (Area Bishop: The Right Reverend David Evans): Birmingham Cathedral, Birmingham East, Birmingham North, Birmingham South, Kidderminster, Worcester.
- Northern Pastoral Area (Area Bishop: The Right Reverend Stephen Wright): Dudley, Lichfield, North Staffordshire, Stafford, Walsall, Wolverhampton.
- Southern Pastoral Area (Area Bishop: vacant - covered by the Very Reverend Canon Paul Fitzpatrick VE): Banbury, Coventry, Oxford North, Oxford South, Rugby, Warwick.
Bishops[]
Ordinaries[]
Vicars Apostolic of the Midland District[]
- Bonaventure Giffard (1687-1703), appointed Vicar Apostolic of the London District
- George Witham (1702-1716), appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District
- John Talbot Stonor (1716-1756)
- John Joseph Hornyold (1756-1778)
- Thomas Joseph Talbot (1778-1795)
- Charles Berington (1795-1798)
- Gregory Stapleton (1800-1802)
- John Milner (1803-1826)
- Thomas Walsh (1826-1840), became (see below)
Vicars Apostolic of the Central District[]
- Thomas Walsh (1840-1848), see above; appointed Vicar Apostolic of the London District
- William Bernard Ullathorne, O.S.B. (1848-1850); see below
Bishops of Birmingham[]
- William Bernard Ullathorne, O.S.B. (1850-1888); see above
- Edward Ilsley (1888-1911); see below
Archbishops of Birmingham[]
- Edward Ilsley (1911-1921); see above
- John McIntyre (1921-1928)
- Thomas Leighton Williams (1929-1946)
- Joseph Masterson (1947-1953)
- Francis Joseph Grimshaw (1954-1965)
- George Patrick Dwyer (1965-1981)
- Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville (1982-1999)
- Vincent Gerard Nichols (2000-2009), appointed Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal in 2014)
- Bernard Longley (2009–present)
Coadjutor Vicars Apostolic[]
- John Joseph Hornyold (1751-1756)
- Thomas Joseph Talbot (1766-1778)
- Charles Berington (1786-1795)
- Thomas Walsh (1825-1826)
- Nicholas Wiseman (1840-1847), appointed Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of the London District, later Vicar Apostolic of the London District and Archbishop of Westminster (elevated to Cardinal in 1850)
Auxiliary bishops[]
Need to sort the following:
- John Patrick Barrett (1926-1929), appointed Bishop of Plymouth
- (1991-1997), appointed Bishop of Salford
- (1944-1964)
- , C.O. (2014-2019), appointed Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle
- (1964-1987)
- Anthony Joseph Emery (1967-1976), appointed Bishop of Portsmouth
- (1924-1925)
- Bernard William Griffin (1938-1943), appointed Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal in 1946)
- Roger Francis Crispian Hollis (1987-1988), appointed Bishop of Portsmouth
- Edward Ilsley (1879-1888), appointed Bishop here
- , C.P. (2006-2021)
- Patrick Leo McCartie (1977-1990), appointed Bishop of Northampton
- (2005-2020)
- John McIntyre (1912-1917), appointed official of the Roman Curia and titular archbishop; later returned here as Archbishop
- Philip Pargeter (1989-2009)
- (2020-)
- (2020-)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops[]
- Francis Kerril Amherst, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 1858
- James Brown, appointed Bishop of Shrewsbury in 1851
- David John Cashman, appointed auxiliary bishop of Westminster in 1958
- Kieran Thomas Conry, appointed Bishop of Arundel and Brighton in 2001
- James Dey, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Great Britain, Military in 1935
- Edward Dicconson, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Northern District in 1740
- Kevin John Dunn, appointed Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle in 2004
- Joseph Gray, appointed auxiliary bishop of Liverpool in 1968
- Frederick William Keating, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 1908
- , appointed auxiliary bishop of Shrewsbury in 1879
- Kevin John Patrick McDonald, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 2001
- , appointed Bishop of Nottingham in 2015
- Francis George Mostyn, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Northern District in 1840
- David James Oakley, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 2020
- , appointed Bishop of Nottingham in 1853
- , appointed Bishop of Leeds in 2014
- Francis Gerard Thomas, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 1982
- William Wareing, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Eastern District in 1840
- Henry Weedall, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Northern District in 1840; did not take effect
See also[]
- Archbishop of Birmingham
- List of Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales
References[]
- ^ a b "Resignations and Appointments, 18.03.2020". Holy See Press Office. Holy See. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
External links[]
- Archdioceses of Birmingham website
- GCatholic.org information
- Catholic Hierarchy
- Ardiocese of Birmingham Directory 2020 (CPMM Media Group, Liverpool, 2019)
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham
- Christianity in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Religious organizations established in 1688
- Pope Pius IX
- Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century
- 1688 establishments in England
- Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Birmingham