Archdiocese of Birmingham
Encyclopedia
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 3373 square miles (8,736 km²) of the counties of Oxfordshire
(parts), Staffordshire
, West Midlands
, Warwickshire
and Worcestershire
. The metropolitan see is in the City of Birmingham
at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad.
Erected as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Midlands District in 1688, the vicariate grew very slowly until the advent of the industrial revolution. In respose to the 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.
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, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols (2000-2009). 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.
Birmingham Cathedral,
Birmingham North,
Birmingham South,
Birmingham East,
Kidderminster,
Worcester
Dudley,
Lichfield,
North Staffordshire,
Stafford,
Walsall,
Wolverhampton
Banbury,
Coventry,
Oxford North,
Oxford South,
Rugby,
Warwick
Vicars Apostolic of the Central District.
Bishops of Birmingham.
Archbishops of Birmingham.
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church
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...
.
The archdiocese covers an area of 3373 square miles (8,736 km²) 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 ....
(parts), 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 metropolitan see is 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...
at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad.
Erected as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Midlands District in 1688, the vicariate grew very slowly until the advent of the industrial revolution. In respose to the 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
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...
.
The Diocese of Birmingham was elevated to archdiocese status on 28 October 1911.
The Metropolitan Province
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
includes the suffragan dioceses of Clifton
Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese centred around the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton....
and Shrewsbury.
The Archbishop is 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 named the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009. He succeeds the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols (2000-2009). 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
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...
and one of the patronal feasts of the Archdiocese, St Chad being the other.
Diocesan boundaries
The diocese is divided into three pastoral areas, each of which contain a number of deaneries:- Central and Western Pastoral Area:
Birmingham Cathedral,
Birmingham North,
Birmingham South,
Birmingham East,
Kidderminster,
Worcester
- Northern Pastoral Area:
Dudley,
Lichfield,
North Staffordshire,
Stafford,
Walsall,
Wolverhampton
- Southern Pastoral Area:
Banbury,
Coventry,
Oxford North,
Oxford South,
Rugby,
Warwick
Ordinaries
Vicars Apostolic of the Midland District.- Bonaventure GiffardBonaventure GiffardBonaventure Giffard was a Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District of England from 1687 to 1703 and Vicar Apostolic of the London District of England from 1703 to 1734.-Life:...
(appointed on 25 November 1687 – translated to the London DistrictVicar Apostolic of the London DistrictThe Vicar Apostolic of the London District was the title given to the bishop who headed an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England, the Vicariate Apostolic of the London District, from 1688 to 1850.-Background:...
on 14 March 1703) - George WithamGeorge WithamGeorge Witham was an English Roman Catholic bishop who served firstly as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, then the Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District.-Early life:...
(appointed on 12 August 1702 – translated to the Northern District on 6 April 1716) - John Talbot StonorJohn Talbot StonorJohn Talbot Stonor was an English Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1715 to 1756....
(appointed on 18 September 1715 – died in office on 29 March 1756) - John Joseph HornyoldJohn Joseph HornyoldJohn Joseph Hornyold was an English Catholic bishop, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, England, and titular Bishop of Phiomelia.-Life:...
(succeeded on 29 March 1756 – died in office on 26 December 1778) - Thomas Joseph TalbotThomas Joseph TalbotThomas Joseph Talbot was an English Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1778 to until his death in 1795....
(succeeded on 26 December 1778 – died in office on 24 April 1795) - Charles BeringtonCharles BeringtonCharles Berington was an English Catholic bishop, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District and Titular Bishop of Hiero-Caesarea.-Life:...
(succeeded on 24 April 1795 – died in office on 8 June 1798) - Gregory StapletonGregory Stapleton-Life:Born at Carlton, Yorkshire, he was seventh son of Nicholas Stapleton, by his third wife, Winifred, daughter of John White of Dover Street, London. He went to the English College, Douay, in 1762. Ten years later, then a deacon, he was appointed professor of music...
(appointed on 7 November 1800 – died in office on 23 May 1802) - John MilnerJohn Milner (bishop)John Milner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and writer who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1803 to 1826.-Early life:...
(appointed on 6 March 1803 – died in office on 19 April 1826) - Thomas WalshThomas Walsh (UK bishop)Bishop Thomas Walsh was a Roman Catholic clergyman and Vicar Apostolic who served the Midlands area of the United Kingdom. He was born in London on 3 October 1776, and ordained priest on 19 September 1801...
(succeeded on 19 April 1826 – afterwards became vicar apostolic of the Central District on 3 July 1840) - (Nicholas Wiseman, appointed coadjutor vicar apostolic of the Midland District on 22 May 1840 – afterwards became coadjutor vicar apostolic of the Central District on 3 July 1840)
Vicars Apostolic of the Central District.
- Thomas Walsh (appointed on 3 July 1840 – translated to the London DistrictVicar Apostolic of the London DistrictThe Vicar Apostolic of the London District was the title given to the bishop who headed an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England, the Vicariate Apostolic of the London District, from 1688 to 1850.-Background:...
on 17 July 1848) - (Nicholas Wiseman, appointed coadjutor vicar apostolic of the Central District on 3 July 1840 – became coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of the London DistrictVicar Apostolic of the London DistrictThe Vicar Apostolic of the London District was the title given to the bishop who headed an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England, the Vicariate Apostolic of the London District, from 1688 to 1850.-Background:...
on 29 August 1847) - William Bernard UllathorneWilliam Bernard UllathorneWilliam 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. (appointed on 28 July 1848 – afterwards became the bishop of Birmingham on 29 September 1850)
Bishops of Birmingham.
- William Bernard UllathorneWilliam Bernard UllathorneWilliam 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. (appointed on 29 September 1850 – retired on 27 April 1888) - Edward IlsleyEdward IlsleyEdward 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...
(appointed on 17 February 1888 – afterwards became the archbishop of Birmingham on 28 October 1911)
Archbishops of Birmingham.
- Edward IlsleyEdward IlsleyEdward 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...
(appointed on 28 October 1911 – retired on 13 June 1921) - John McIntyreJohn 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:...
(appointed on 16 June 1921 – resigned on 17 November 1928) - Thomas Leighton WilliamsThomas Leighton WilliamsThomas 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 on 23 Jun 1929 – died in office on 1 Apr 1946) - Joseph MastersonJoseph MastersonJoseph 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 on 8 Feb 1947 – died in office on 30 November 1953) - Francis Joseph GrimshawFrancis Joseph GrimshawFrancis 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...
(appointed on 11 May 1954 – died in office on 22 March 1965) - George Patrick DwyerGeorge Patrick DwyerGeorge Patrick Dwyer was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 1965 to 1981.-Life and ministry:...
(appointed on 5 October 1965 – retired on 1 September 1981) - Maurice Noël Léon Couve de MurvilleMaurice Noël Léon Couve de MurvilleMaurice 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 on 22 January 1982 – resigned on 12 June 1999) - Vincent Gerard NicholsVincent Gerard NicholsVincent Gerard Nichols is the Archbishop of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales...
(appointed on 15 February 2000 – translated to the archdiocese of WestminsterRoman Catholic Archdiocese of WestminsterThe 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...
on 21 May 2009) - Bernard LongleyBernard LongleyBernard 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...
(appointed on 1 October 2009 and installed on 8 December 2009)