Archdiocese of Westminster

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Bishop(s) Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Cardinal, Archbishop John Arnold, Auxiliary Bishop Alan Stephen Hopes, Auxiliary Bishop Bernard Longley, Auxiliary Bishop George Stack, Auxiliary Bishop Suffragan Dioceses Brentwood East Anglia Northampton Nottingham

General Information Type of Jurisdiction: Archdiocese Elevated: 29 September 1850 Metropolitan See Rite: Latin (or Roman) Country: England Region: Great Britain Square Kilometers: 3,634 (1,403 Square Miles) Description: Comprising: Greater London boroughs north of the Thames and west of Waltham Forest and Newham, plus the districts of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames, and the county of Hertfordshire. Official Web Site: http://www.rcdow.org.uk/ Mailing Address: Ambrosden Avenue, Westminster, London SW1P 1QJ, England, Great Britian Telephone: (020)7798-9033 Fax: 7798-9077

Historical Details

• Vicariate Apostolic of England
  • Erected: 1622
  • Country: England
  • Region: Great Britain

• Vicariate Apostolic of London District
  • Name Changed: 30 January 1688
  • Country: England
  • Region: Great Britain

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Past and Present Ordinaries

• William Bishop † (15 Mar 1623 Appointed - 13 Apr 1624 Died)
• Richard Smith † (29 Nov 1624 Appointed - 1632 Resigned)
• John Leyburn † (24 Aug 1685 Appointed - 20 Jun 1702 Died)
• Bonaventure Giffard † (14 Mar 1703 Appointed - 12 Mar 1734 Died)
• Benjamin Petre, O.S.B. † (12 Mar 1734 Succeeded - 22 Dec 1758 Died)
• Richard Challoner † (22 Sep 1758 Succeeded - 12 Jan 1781 Died)
• James Robert Talbot † (12 Jan 1781 Succeeded - 26 Jan 1790 Died)
• John Douglass † (10 Sep 1790 Appointed - 8 May 1812 Died)
• William Poynter † (8 May 1812 Succeeded - 26 Nov 1827 Died)
• James Yorke Bramston † (26 Nov 1827 Succeeded - 11 Jul 1836 Died)
• Thomas Griffiths † (11 Jul 1836 Succeeded - 12 Aug 1847 Died)
• Thomas Walsh † (17 Jul 1848 Appointed - 18 Feb 1849 Died)
• Nicholas Patrick Stephen (Nicolás Patricio Esteban) Wiseman † (18 Feb 1849 Succeeded - 15 Feb 1865 Died)
• Henry Edward Manning † (30 Apr 1865 Appointed - 14 Jan 1892 Died)
• Herbert Vaughan † (8 Apr 1892 Appointed - 19 Jun 1903 Died)
• Francis Alphonsus Bourne † (11 Sep 1903 Appointed - 31 Dec 1934 Died)
• Arthur Hinsley † (1 Apr 1935 Appointed - 17 Mar 1943 Died)
• Bernard William Griffin † (18 Dec 1943 Appointed - 19 Aug 1956 Died)
• William Godfrey † (3 Dec 1956 Appointed - 22 Jan 1963 Died)
• John Carmel Heenan † (2 Sep 1963 Appointed - 7 Nov 1975 Died)
• George Basil Hume, O.S.B. † (9 Feb 1976 Appointed - 17 Jun 1999 Died)
• Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (15 Feb 2000 Appointed - )

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Historical Summary

Date	Event	From	To
Vicariate Apostolic of England
1622	Erected		Vicariate Apostolic of England (erected)
30 January 1688	Territory Lost	Vicariate Apostolic of England	Vicariate Apostolic of Northern District (erected)
30 January 1688	Territory Lost	Vicariate Apostolic of England	Vicariate Apostolic of Midland District (erected)
30 January 1688	Territory Lost	Vicariate Apostolic of England	Vicariate Apostolic of Western District (erected)
Vicariate Apostolic of London District
30 January 1688	Name Changed	Vicariate Apostolic of England	Vicariate Apostolic of London District
29 September 1850	Territory Lost	Vicariate Apostolic of London District	Diocese of Southwark (erected)
Archdiocese of Westminster
29 September 1850	Elevated	Vicariate Apostolic of London District	Archdiocese of Westminster
20 July 1917	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Westminster	Diocese of Brentwood (erected)

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Statistics

Year	Catholics	Total Population	Percent Catholic	Diocesan Priests	Religious Priests	Total Priests	Catholics Per Priest	Permanent Deacons	Male Religious	Female Religious	Parishes	Source
Archdiocese of Westminster
1949	315,000	4,518,489	7.0%	431	276	707	445		370	2,500	164	ap1951
1970	484,680	4,491,760	10.8%	431		431	1,124				208	ap1971
1980	476,378	4,468,400	10.7%	303	472	775	614	6	472		216	ap1981
1990	449,191	4,520,000	9.9%	394	444	838	536	5	586	1,842	215	ap1991
1999	460,000	4,415,000	10.4%	378	392	770	597	4	507	1,394	213	ap2000
2000	501,895	4,435,000	11.3%	416	384	800	627	4	589	1,396	214	ap2001
2001	501,900	4,435,000	11.3%	370	401	771	650	4	592	1,322	214	ap2002
2002	462,072	4,435,000	10.4%	363	403	766	603	4	588	1,310	214	ap2003
2003	430,000	4,420,000	9.7%	348	405	753	571	4	570	1,201	214	ap2004
2004	465,587	4,613,284	10.1%	345	398	743	626	4	552	1,194	214	ap2005

Note: Any changes in boundaries over time are not indicated in the above table.

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Affiliated Bishops, Living

• John Arnold (Priest: 16 Jul 1983; Auxiliary Bishop: 6 Dec 2005)
• John Patrick Crowley (Auxiliary Bishop: 31 Oct 1986 to 3 Nov 1992)
• Alan Stephen Hopes (Priest: 4 Dec 1995; Auxiliary Bishop: 4 Jan 2003)
• David Every Konstant (Auxiliary Bishop: 28 Mar 1977 to 12 Jul 1985)
• Bernard Longley (Auxiliary Bishop: 4 Jan 2003)
• Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (Archbishop: 15 Feb 2000 - )
• Vincent Gerard Nichols (Auxiliary Bishop: 5 Nov 1991 to 15 Feb 2000)
• Patrick O'Donoghue (Priest: 25 May 1967; Auxiliary Bishop: 18 May 1993 to 5 Jun 2001)
• Arthur Roche (Auxiliary Bishop: 12 Apr 2001 to 16 Jul 2002)
• George Stack (Auxiliary Bishop: 12 Apr 2001)

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Affiliated Bishops, Deceased

• Manuel Bidwell † (Auxiliary Bishop: 30 Oct 1917 to 11 Jul 1930)
• William Bishop † (Vicar Apostolic: 15 Mar 1623 to 13 Apr 1624)
• Francis Alphonsus Bourne † (Archbishop: 11 Sep 1903 to 31 Dec 1934)
• James Yorke Bramston † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 4 Feb 1823; Vicar Apostolic: 26 Nov 1827 to 11 Jul 1836)
• Robert Brindle † (Auxiliary Bishop: 29 Jan 1899 to 6 Dec 1901)
• Basil Christopher Butler, O.S.B. † (Auxiliary Bishop: 29 Nov 1966 to 21 Sep 1986)
• Joseph Butt † (Auxiliary Bishop: 14 Jan 1911 to 23 Apr 1938)
• Patrick Joseph Casey † (Auxiliary Bishop: 23 Dec 1965 to 2 Dec 1969)
• David John Cashman † (Auxiliary Bishop: 25 Mar 1958 to 14 Jun 1965)
• Richard Challoner † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 12 Sep 1739; Vicar Apostolic: 22 Sep 1758 to 12 Jan 1781)
• George Laurence Craven † (Auxiliary Bishop: 14 Jun 1947 to 15 Mar 1967)
• John Douglass † (Vicar Apostolic: 10 Sep 1790 to 8 May 1812)
• George Errington † (Coadjutor Archbishop: 30 Mar 1855 to 22 Jul 1862)
• Patrick Fenton † (Auxiliary Bishop: 16 Apr 1904 to 22 Aug 1918)
• Bonaventure Giffard † (Vicar Apostolic: 14 Mar 1703 to 12 Mar 1734)
• William Godfrey † (Archbishop: 3 Dec 1956 to 22 Jan 1963)
• Robert Gradwell † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 17 Jun 1828 to 15 Mar 1833)
• Bernard William Griffin † (Archbishop: 18 Dec 1943 to 19 Aug 1956)
• Thomas Griffiths † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 30 Jul 1833; Vicar Apostolic: 11 Jul 1836 to 12 Aug 1847)
• Victor Guazzelli † (Priest: 17 Mar 1945; Auxiliary Bishop: 24 Apr 1970 to 21 Dec 1996)
• Philip James Benedict Harvey † (Auxiliary Bishop: 28 Mar 1977 to 3 Jul 1990)
• John Carmel Heenan † (Priest: 6 Jul 1930 to 27 Jan 1951; Archbishop: 2 Sep 1963 to 7 Nov 1975)
• Arthur Hinsley † (Priest: 23 Dec 1893 to 10 Aug 1926; Archbishop: 1 Apr 1935 to 17 Mar 1943)
• George Basil Hume, O.S.B. † (Archbishop: 9 Feb 1976 to 17 Jun 1999)
• William Anthony Johnson † (Auxiliary Bishop: 23 Apr 1906 to 27 Mar 1909)
• John Leyburn † (Vicar Apostolic: 24 Aug 1685 to 20 Jun 1702)
• Gerald Mahon, M.H.M. † (Auxiliary Bishop: 24 Apr 1970 to 29 Jan 1992)
• Henry Edward Manning † (Priest: 16 Jun 1851; Archbishop: 30 Apr 1865 to 14 Jan 1892)
• David Mathew † (Auxiliary Bishop: 3 Dec 1938 to 20 Feb 1946)
• Edward Myers † (Auxiliary Bishop: 10 Jun 1932; Coadjutor Archbishop: 20 Jan 1951 to 13 Sep 1956)
• James Joseph O’Brien † (Priest: 12 Jun 1954; Auxiliary Bishop: 28 Jun 1977 to 30 Jun 2005)
• James Laird Patterson † (Auxiliary Bishop: 20 Apr 1880 to 3 Dec 1901)
• Benjamin Petre, O.S.B. † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 23 Jun 1721; Vicar Apostolic: 12 Mar 1734 to 22 Dec 1758)
• William Poynter † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 6 Mar 1803; Vicar Apostolic: 8 May 1812 to 26 Nov 1827)
• Richard Smith † (Vicar Apostolic: 29 Nov 1624 to 1632)
• Charles Algernon Stanley † (Auxiliary Bishop: 12 Feb 1903 to 23 Apr 1928)
• James Robert Talbot † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 10 Mar 1759; Vicar Apostolic: 12 Jan 1781 to 26 Jan 1790)
• Herbert Vaughan † (Archbishop: 8 Apr 1892 to 19 Jun 1903)
• Thomas Walsh † (Vicar Apostolic: 17 Jul 1848 to 18 Feb 1849)
• William Weathers † (Auxiliary Bishop: 27 Sep 1872 to 4 Mar 1895)
• Nicholas Patrick Stephen (Nicolás Patricio Esteban) Wiseman † (Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic: 29 Aug 1847; Vicar Apostolic: 18 Feb 1849; Archbishop: 29 Sep 1850 to 15 Feb 1865)