Archbishop of Westminster

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The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the Metropolitan of the Province of Westminster and, as a matter of custom, is elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and therefore the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Since the establishment of the hierarchy in 1850 each successive Archbishop of Westminster has been raised to the rank of cardinal.


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[edit] History

With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities of Catholics in England and Wales in the early 19th century, Rome decided to proceed to bridge the gap of the centuries from Queen Elizabeth I by instituting Catholic dioceses on the regular historical pattern. Thus Pope Pius IX issued the Bull Universalis Ecclesiae of September 29, 1850 by which thirteen new dioceses, which did not formally claim any continuity with the pre-Elizabethan English dioceses, were created.

The Ecclesistical Titles Act had already been proposed by the British Parliament and was passed in 1851 as an anti-Catholic measure precisely to prevent any newly created Catholic dioceses from taking existing Anglican diocesan names, forbidding the wearing of (Anglican) clerical dress or setting bells in Catholic places of worship. It was repealled by Gladstone in 1871.

One of these newly created diocese was the Archdiocese of Westminster, the sole Metropolitan See at that time. However, under Pope Pius X, on October 28, 1911, two new Provinces of Liverpool and Birmingham were created, and Westminster retained as suffragan dioceses only Northampton, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Southwark. These increased when under Pope Benedict XV a Bull of July 20, 1917, fixed the seat of a new diocese corresponding to the County of Essex, detached now from Westminster, at Brentwood, making it a suffragan of Westminster.

During the pontificate of Pope Paul VI, on May 28, 1965, a new Province of Southwark was erected, with as its suffragans Portsmouth, detached from Westminster, Plymouth, detached from Birmingham, and a new diocese of Arundel and Brighton erected in the Counties of Sussex and Surrey with territory taken from the diocese of Southwark. Westminster retained as suffragan dioceses only Northampton, Nottingham and Brentwood. Subsequently these were joined by a new diocese of East Anglia, erected with territory from the Northampton diocese in the Counties of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk by Paul VI on March 13, 1976.

The previous Catholic jurisdiction in the London area was a Vicariate headed by the Vicar Apostolic of the London District.

Westminster Cathedral from Victoria Street
Westminster Cathedral from Victoria Street

[edit] Current situation

The archdiocese presently covers an area of 3,634 km² of the London Boroughs north of the River Thames, together with the districts of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and the County of Hertfordshire. The see is in the City of Westminster, the Archbishop's cathedra or seat is located at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of the "Most Precious Holy Blood, Saint Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint Peter", usually referred to as Westminster Cathedral, which is set back from Victoria Street.

The Archbishop's residence is Archbishop's House, Ambrosden Avenue, London.

The current archbishop is His Eminence Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, the 10th Metropolitan Archbishop of Westminster.

[edit] Title of primate

Among the old European Catholic Sees (i.e., Paris, Prague, Lyons, Cologne, etc.), the Archbishop of Westminster is referred to as the valid Primate of England and Wales. However, in the United Kingdom, this is not legally correct, since the title is formally claimed only by the archbishops of the established Church of England, and is applied to the Archbishop of York as "Primate of England", and the Archbishop of Canterbury, as "Primate of All England". In global Catholicism, however, the last time there was an erected Catholic Primate of England in the UK, accepted by the state, was prior to the Reformation.

[edit] List of the Archbishops of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, England

(Any dates appearing in italics indicate de facto continuation of office. The start date of tenure below is the date of appointment or succession. Where known, the date of installation and ordination as bishop are listed in the notes together with the post held prior to appointment.)

Tenure Incumbent Date elevated to cardinal Notes
29 September 1850 to 15 February 1865 Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman 30 September 1850 Vicar Apostolic of the London District; died in office
30 April 1865 to 14 January 1892 Henry Edward Manning 15 March 1875 Widower; Ex Anglican Archdeacon; Priest of Westminster; died in office
8 April 1892 to 19 June 1903 Herbert Vaughan 16 January 1893 Bishop of Salford; died in office
11 September 1903 to 31 December 1934 Francis Alphonsus Bourne 27 November 1911 Coadjutor Bishop of Southwark; died in office
1 April 1935 to 17 March 1943 Arthur Hinsley 13 December 1937 Titular Archbishop; Ex Apostolic Delegate in British Africa; died in office
18 December 1943 to 19 August 1956 Bernard William Griffin 18 February 1946 Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham; died in office
3 December 1956 to 22 January 1963 William Godfrey 15 December 1958 Archbishop of Liverpool; died in office
2 September 1963 to 7 November 1975 John Carmel Heenan 22 February 1965 Archbishop of Liverpool; died in office
9 February 1976 to 17 June 1999 George Basil Hume, OSB 24 May 1976 Priest of the Order of Saint Benedict; died in office
15 February 2000 to present Cormac Murphy-O'Connor 21 February 2001 Bishop of Arundel and Brighton


Catholic Hierarchy in England and Wales
    Archbishops Bishops
England
    Liverpool Hallam | Hexham and Newcastle | Lancaster | Leeds | Middlesbrough | Salford
    Westminster Brentwood | East Anglia | Northampton | Nottingham
    Birmingham Clifton | Shrewsbury
    Southwark Arundel & Brighton | Plymouth | Portsmouth
    Other dioceses Bishopric of the Forces | Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians
Wales
    Cardiff Menevia | Wrexham
edit this box

[edit] See also