Metropolitan Birmingham Area 8,735 km² | Ecclesiastical province Birmingham Parishes 222 Phone +44 121 236 2251 | |
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Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2013)4,945,600438,675 (8.9%) Address Cathedral House, St. Chads Queensway, Birmingham B5 6EX, UK Cathedral St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham Auxiliary bishops Leonard William Kenney, David Christopher McGough, Robert Byrne Similar St Chad's Cathedral (Roman, Saint Michael's Catholic, The Oratory of Saint Phil, St Paul's Church, St Mary's R C Church Profiles |
Roman catholic 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. 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 diocese of Clifton and Shrewsbury.
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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 (2000-2009). 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.
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 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.
Diocese Boundaries
The diocese is divided into three pastoral areas, each headed by an Auxiliary Bishop, which contain a number of deaneries:
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
Ordinaries
(see also: Archbishop of Birmingham)