The Archbishop of Birmingham heads the Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 Archdiocese of Birmingham

Archdiocese of Birmingham

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....

 in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Birmingham.

The archdiocese covers an area of and spans of the counties of Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 and Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

. The see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 in the City of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 where the archbishop's seat

Cathedra

A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...

 is located at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad.

With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities of Catholics in England and Wales in the early 19th century, Rome decided to proceed to bridge the gap of the centuries from Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 by instituting Catholic dioceses on the regular historical pattern. Thus Pope Pius IX issued the Bull Universalis Ecclesiae

Universalis Ecclesiae

Universalis Ecclesiae is the incipit of the 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...

 of 29 September 1850 by which thirteen new dioceses which did not formally claim any continuity with the pre-Elizabethan English dioceses were created.

One of these was the diocese of Birmingham. This has its origins in the Vicariates Apostolic of England, of the Midland District and lastly of the Central District. The last Vicar Apostolic of the Central District, from 28 July 1848, was Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne

William Bernard Ullathorne

William Bernard Ullathorne was an English Roman Catholic bishop and a missionary in Australia.-Early life:William Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous grocer, draper and spirit merchant, and his wife Hannah, née Longstaff...

, O.S.B., who on 29 September 1850 became the first Bishop of Birmingham.

In the early period from 1850 the diocese was a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Westminster, but a further development was the creation under Pope Pius X

Pope Pius X

Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

, on 28 October 1911, of a new Province of Birmingham.

The current Archbishop is The Most Reverend Bernard Longley

Bernard Longley

Bernard Longley is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was named the Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009, and installed by Bishop David McGough and presented with his crozier by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, his predecessor, in St Chad's Cathedral at a Solemn Mass on 8...

, who was appointed

Appointment of Catholic bishops

The appointment of bishops in the Catholic Church is a complicated process. Outgoing bishops, neighbouring bishops, the faithful, the apostolic nuncio, various members of the Roman Curia, and the pope all have a role in the selection...

 the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009 and installed 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.

Bishop of Birmingham

Bishops of Birmingham
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1850	1888	William Bernard Ullathorne William Bernard Ullathorne William Bernard Ullathorne was an English Roman Catholic bishop and a missionary in Australia.-Early life:William Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten children of William Ullathorne, a prosperous grocer, draper and spirit merchant, and his wife Hannah, née Longstaff... , O.S.B. Order of Saint Benedict The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...	Previously Vicar Apostolic of the Central District (1848–1850). Appointed Appointment of Catholic bishops The appointment of bishops in the Catholic Church is a complicated process. Outgoing bishops, neighbouring bishops, the faithful, the apostolic nuncio, various members of the Roman Curia, and the pope all have a role in the selection...  Bishop of Birmingham on 29 September 1850. Resigned on 27 April 1888 and appointed Titular Archbishop of Cabasa. Died on 21 March 1889.
1888	1911	Edward Ilsley Edward Ilsley Edward Ilsley became the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham on 27 November 1911, having previously been the third Bishop of Birmingham since 17 November 1888. The correct spelling is Ilsley, not Illsley.He was born in Stafford on 11 May 1838. He was ordained priest on 29 June 1861...	Formerly an auxiliary bishop Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...  of Birmingham Archdiocese of Birmingham 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....  (1879–1888). Appointed Bishop of Birmingham on 17 February 1888. Elevated from bishop to archbishop of Birmingham on 27 November 1911.
In 1911, the diocese was elevated to a metropolitan archdiocese.

Archbishop of Birmingham

Archbishop of Birmingham

The Archbishop of Birmingham heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Birmingham....

 

Archbishop of Birmingham
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1911	1921	Edward Ilsley Edward Ilsley Edward Ilsley became the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham on 27 November 1911, having previously been the third Bishop of Birmingham since 17 November 1888. The correct spelling is Ilsley, not Illsley.He was born in Stafford on 11 May 1838. He was ordained priest on 29 June 1861...	Elevated from bishop to archbishop of Birmingham on 27 November 1911. Retired on 13 June 1921 and appointed Titular Archbishop of Macra. Died on 1 December 1926.
1921	1928	John McIntyre John McIntyre (archbishop of Birmingham) John McIntyre was an English prelate who served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 1921 to 1928.-Early life and ministry:...	Previously an Official of the Roman Curia Roman Curia The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...  and Titular Archbishop of Oxyrynchus (1917–1921). Appointed Archbishop of Birmingham on 16 June 1921 and installed on 5 July 1921. Resigned on 17 November 1928 and appointed Titular Archbishop of Odessus. Died on 21 November 1935.
1929	1946	Thomas Leighton Williams Thomas Leighton Williams Thomas Cuthbert Leighton Williams was a Roman Catholic archbishop of Birmingham, England.He was born on 20 March 1877 in Handsworth, the eldest of the nine children of James Anthony Williams , a Commercial Traveller, and his wife, Emma Mary , the daughter of Thomas Patrick Leighton and his wife,...	Appointed archbishop on 25 July 1929 and consecrated on 25 July 1929. Died in office on 1 April 1946.
1947	1953	Joseph Masterson Joseph Masterson Joseph Masterson was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church.He was born on 29 January 1899 in Manchester, England. He was ordained a priest on 27 July 1924. In 1947 he was appointed as Vicar General of the Diocese of Salford and a priest in parish of St. Mary’s of...	Appointed archbishop on 8 February 1947 and consecrated on 19 March 1947. Died in office on 30 November 1953.
1954	1965	Francis Joseph Grimshaw Francis Joseph Grimshaw Francis Joseph Grimshaw was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church.-Life:Born in Bridgwater, Somerset on 6 October 1901, he was ordained to the priesthood on 27 February 1926. He was appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of Plymouth by on 2 June 1947...	Previously Bishop of Plymouth Bishop of Plymouth The Bishop of Plymouth is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth in the Province of Southwark, England.The diocese covers an area of and consists of the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset...  (1947–1954). Appointed Archbishop of Birmingham on 11 May 1954. Died in office on 22 March 1965.
1965	1981	George Patrick Dwyer George Patrick Dwyer George Patrick Dwyer was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 1965 to 1981.-Life and ministry:...	Previously Bishop of Leeds Bishop of Leeds The Bishop of Leeds is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds in the Province of Liverpool, England.The Vicariate Apostolic of the Yorkshire District was elevated to diocese status as the Diocese of Beverley on 29 September 1850, which was suppressed on 20 December 1878 and its area...  (1957–1965). Appointed Archbishop of Birmingham on 5 October 1965. Retired on 1 September 1981 and died on 17 September 1987.
1982	1999	Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville was the seventh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 25 March 1982 until his retirement on 12 June 1999, having formerly been a priest of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and chaplain of Fisher House, Cambridge.-Early career and priesthood:Maurice...	Appointed archbishop on 22 January 1982 and consecrated on 25 March 1982. Resigned on 12 June 1999 and died on 3 November 2007.
2000	2009	Vincent Gerard Nichols	Previously an auxiliary bishop Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...  of Westminster Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The archdiocese consists of all the London boroughs north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, together with the towns southwest of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and...  (1991–2000). Appointed Archbishop of Birmingham on 15 February 2000. Translated Translation (ecclesiastical) Translation is the technical term when a Bishop is transferred from one diocese to another.This can be* From Suffragan Bishop status to Diocesan Bishop*From Coadjutor bishop to Diocesan Bishop*From one country's Episcopate to another...  to the archbishopric of Westminster Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the Metropolitan of the Province of Westminster and, as a matter of custom, is elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and therefore de facto spokesman...  on 21 May 2009.
2009	present	Bernard Longley Bernard Longley Bernard Longley is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was named the Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009, and installed by Bishop David McGough and presented with his crozier by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, his predecessor, in St Chad's Cathedral at a Solemn Mass on 8...	Previously an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster (2003–2009). Appointed Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009 and installed on 8 December 2009.