List of Catholic dioceses in Great Britain

For Northern Ireland, politically also part of the UK (but not of GB), see List of Catholic dioceses in Ireland

England and Wales (red), with the rest of the United Kingdom (pink)

Westminster Cathedral, considered the Catholic mother church of England and Wales

A diocese, also known as a bishopric, is an administrative unit under the supervision of a bishop, of which there are currently 22 in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The 22 dioceses are divided into five ecclesiastical provinces, each being overseen by an archbishop. The Diocese of Westminster is considered the mother church of English and Welsh Catholics, and although not formally a primate, the archbishop of Westminster is usually elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales providing a degree of a formal direction for the other English bishops and archbishops.

From the time of the English Reformation in the 16th century, with Catholicism becoming illegal, there were no Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales, with several apostolic vicars, bishops of titular sees governing not in their own name, as diocesan bishops do, but provisionally in the name of the Pope, being appointed instead. However, with the passing of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, legalising the practice of the Catholic faith again, Pope Pius IX recreated the Catholic Church diocesan hierarchy on 29 September 1850 by issuing the papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae.

Two Catholic dioceses, those of Leeds and Portsmouth, share their territorial name with Anglican dioceses, the Anglican Diocese of Leeds and the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth, respectively. However, in both these cases the two dioceses cover differing areas.

The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland comprises two Latin ecclesiastical provinces each headed by a Metropolitan archbishop. The provinces in turn are subdivided into 6 dioceses and 2 archdioceses, each headed by a bishop or an archbishop, respectively.

There is an Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain as papal diplomatic representation (embassy-level) to the British authorities (UK)

Current Latin provinces and sees in Great Britain

Episcopal Conference of England and Wales

Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Archdiocese of Birmingham	St. Chad's Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Clifton	Clifton Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Shrewsbury	Shrewsbury Cathedral	1850
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham

Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff	Cardiff Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Menevia	Swansea Cathedral	1898
Diocese of Wrexham	Wrexham Cathedral	1987
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff

Ecclesiastical province of Liverpool

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Archdiocese of Liverpool	Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Hallam	Cathedral Church of St Marie	1980
Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle	St Mary's Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Lancaster	Lancaster Cathedral	1924
Diocese of Leeds	Leeds Cathedral	1878
Diocese of Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough Cathedral	1878
Diocese of Salford	Salford Cathedral	1850
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Liverpool

Ecclesiastical province of Southwark

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Archdiocese of Southwark	St George's Cathedral	1851
Diocese of Arundel and Brighton	Arundel Cathedral	1965
Diocese of Plymouth	Plymouth Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Portsmouth	Cathedral of St John the Evangelist	1882
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Southwark. The Channel Islands are not shown; they are part of the Diocese of Portsmouth.

Ecclesiastical province of Westminster

Diocese	Cathedral	Founded
Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster	Westminster Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Brentwood	Brentwood Cathedral	1917
Diocese of East Anglia	St John the Baptist Cathedral	1976
Diocese of Northampton	Northampton Cathedral	1850
Diocese of Nottingham	Nottingham Cathedral	1850
Map of the Ecclesiastical province of Westminster

Episcopal conference of Scotland

Map of dioceses in Scotland

Ecclesiastical province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh

• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh
  • Diocese of Aberdeen
  • Diocese of Argyll and the Isles
  • Diocese of Dunkeld
  • Diocese of Galloway

Ecclesiastical province of Glasgow

• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Glasgow
  • Diocese of Motherwell
  • Diocese of Paisley.

Eastern Catholic and other exempt

• The Bishopric of the Forces in Great Britain is the Military Ordinariate for all British armed forces, even outside the UK

• The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite, Ukrainian language)) in Britain is organised into Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London, headed by a bishop. The Eastern Catholic Churches, including the Ukrainian Greek Church, are autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Pope.

• The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is one of three Personal Ordinariates. The ordinariates were established in order to enable "groups of Anglicans" to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony. Personal Ordinariates are headed by Ordinaries.

Name	Cathedral	Founded
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London	Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile	20132013
Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham		20112011

See also

• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain
• Roman Catholicism in England and Wales

Scotland

• Roman Catholicism in Scotland
• Bishops' Conference of Scotland
• Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in Scotland

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org - England and Wales .
• Catholic-Hierarchy entry.

Scotland

• GCatholic.org - Scotland .
• Catholic-Hierarchy Scotland.
• Edinburgh Statistics
• Glasgow Statistics