Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham

Archdiocese of Birmingham

*Archidioecesis Birminghamiensis*
Archdiocese of Birmingham; Archidioecesis Birminghamiensis
	Coat of arms
Location
Country	England
Territory	Warwickshire; Oxfordshire; Staffordshire; West Midlands; Worcestershire
Ecclesiastical province	Birmingham
Deaneries	11
Subdivisions	3 Pastoral Areas
Statistics
Area	8,735 km2 (3,373 sq mi)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(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), Blessed Charles Acutis (12 October)
Secular priests	214 (+100 deacons)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Bernard Longley
Auxiliary Bishops	David Evans;
Vicar General	Richard Walker
Episcopal Vicars	Paul Fitzpatrick; Paul McNally; Gary Buckby; Anna O'Connor; Laurence Hughes;
Judicial Vicar	Joseph McLoughlin
Bishops emeritus	Philip Pargeter; Leonard William Kenney;
Map
	; The Archdiocese of Birmingham within the Province of Birmingham
Website
	birminghamdiocese.org.uk

The Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. 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). 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 archdiocesan status on 28 October 1911.

Diocesan boundaries

The Archbishop of Birmingham, 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: David Evans): Birmingham Cathedral & South; Birmingham East & North; Kidderminster & Worcester.
Northern Pastoral Area (Episcopal Vicar: Paul McNally): Dudley & Wolverhampton; Lichfield & Walsall; North Staffordshire; Stafford.
Southern Pastoral Area (Episcopal Vicar: Paul Fitzpatrick): Banbury & Warwick; Coventry & Nuneaton; Oxford North; Oxford South.

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 Vicar Apostolic of the Central District (see below)

Vicars Apostolic of the Central District

Thomas Walsh (1840–1848), see above; appointed Vicar Apostolic of the London District
William Bernard Ullathorne (1848–1850); see below

Bishops of Birmingham

William Bernard Ullathorne (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

John Patrick Barrett (1926–1929), appointed Bishop of Plymouth
Terence John Brain (1991–1997), appointed Bishop of Salford
Humphrey Penderell Bright (1944–1964)
Robert John Byrne (2014–2019), appointed Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle
Joseph Francis Cleary (1964–1987)
Anthony Joseph Emery (1967–1976), appointed Bishop of Portsmouth
Michael Francis Glancey (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
Leonard William Kenney (2006–2021)
Patrick Leo McCartie (1977–1990), appointed Bishop of Northampton
David Christopher McGough (2005–2020)
John McIntyre (1912–1917), appointed official of the Roman Curia and titular archbishop; later returned here as Archbishop
Philip Pargeter (1989–2009)
Stephen James Lawrence Wright (2020–)
David Ernest Charles Evans (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
Edmund James Knight, appointed auxiliary bishop of Shrewsbury in 1879
Kevin John Patrick McDonald, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 2001
Patrick Joseph McKinney, 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
Richard Butler Roskell, appointed Bishop of Nottingham in 1853
Marcus Nigel Stock, 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

Education

Holy Trinity Catholic Academy of Stafford and Stone

References

^ "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)

52°29′08″N 1°53′55″W / 52.4856°N 1.8987°W / 52.4856; -1.8987

[appointments-1] "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.

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