Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham

Diocese
name=Archdiocese of Birmingham


province=Province of Birmingham
parishes=274
members=
subdivisions=three pastoral areas
bishop=Archbishop of Birmingham
cathedral=St. Chad's Cathedral
website=http://www.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 (8,735 km²) of the Counties of Oxfordshire, 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 of 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 Archdiocese is the metropolitan of the Diocese of Clifton and the Diocese of Shrewsbury.

The current Archbishop is Vincent Gerard Nichols, appointed in 2000.

Ordinaries

*Bonaventure Giffard † (25 Nov 1687 Appointed - 14 Mar 1703 Appointed, Vicar Apostolic of London District, England)
*George Witham † (12 Aug 1702 Appointed - 6 Apr 1716 Appointed, Vicar Apostolic of Northern District, England)
*John Talbot Stonor † (18 Sep 1715 Appointed - 29 Mar 1756 Died)
*John Joseph Hornyold † (29 Mar 1756 Succeeded - 26 Dec 1778 Died)
*Thomas Joseph Talbot † (26 Dec 1778 Succeeded - 24 Apr 1795 Died)
*Charles Berington † (24 Apr 1795 Succeeded - 8 Jun 1798 Died)
*Gregory Stapleton † (7 Nov 1800 Appointed - 23 May 1802 Died)
*John Milner † (6 Mar 1803 Appointed - 19 Apr 1826 Died)
*Thomas Walsh † (19 Apr 1826 Succeeded - 17 Jul 1848 Appointed, Vicar Apostolic of London District, England)
*Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman † (22 May 1840 Appointed - 29 Aug 1847 Appointed, Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of London District, England)
*Thomas Walsh † (3 Jul 1840 Appointed - 17 Jul 1848 Appointed, Vicar Apostolic of London District, England)
*William Bernard Ullathorne, O.S.B., first bishop, † (28 Jul 1848 Appointed - 27 Apr 1888 Retired)
*Edward Ilsley † (17 Feb 1888 Appointed - 13 Jun 1921 Retired)
*John McIntyre † (16 Jun 1921 Appointed - 17 Nov 1928 Resigned)
*Thomas Leighton Williams † (23 Jun 1929 Appointed - 1 Apr 1946 Died)
*Joseph Masterson † (8 Feb 1947 Appointed - 30 Nov 1953 Died)
*Francis Joseph Grimshaw † (11 May 1954 Appointed - 22 Mar 1965 Died)
*George Patrick Dwyer † (5 Oct 1965 Appointed - 1 Sep 1981 Retired)
*Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville † (22 Jan 1982 Appointed - 12 Jun 1999 Resigned)
*Vincent Gerard Nichols (15 Feb 2000 Appointed - )

See also

*List of Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales

References

* [http://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/ Archdioceses of Birmingham Website]
* [http://www.gcatholic.com/dioceses/diocese/birm0.htm Giga-Catholic Information]