Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool is a archdiocese of the Latin Rite based in Liverpool, England headed by the Archbishop of Liverpool. The archdiocese is part of the metropolitan Province of Liverpool, which covers Northern England.
[edit] Mission Statement of the Archdiocese of Liverpool
Taking to heart the last words of the Lord Jesus. We will go into the world to proclaim the Good News to the whole of Creation.
[edit] History
With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities of Roman 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 29 September 1850 by which thirteen new dioceses which did not formally claim any continuity with the pre-Elizabethan English dioceses were created.
One of these was the diocese of Liverpool. Initially it comprised the Hundreds of West Derby and Leyland in Lancashire and the Isle of Man.
In the early period from 1850 the diocese was a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Westminster, but a further development was the creation under Pope Pius X on 28 October 1911, of a new Province of Liverpool.
[edit] Location
The archdiocese covers an area of 1,165 km² (450 sq. mi.) of the west of the County of Lancashire south of the Ribble, parts of Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester (The historic Hundreds of West Derby and Leyland} and the Isle of Man. The see is in the City of Liverpool, where the Archbishop's cathedra or seat is located in the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King, which was dedicated on 14 May 1967.
The central office building known as the Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation is located on Croxteth Drive, in Sefton Park, Liverpool.
[edit] Archdiocesan Statistics 2007
Compiled 14 November 2007
Catholic Population 2007: 493,110
Parish Churches: 214 (including Chapels of Ease)
Priests (Diocesan & religious): 281
Houses of religious Brothers 6
Convents of religious Sisters: 75
Permanent Deacons: 103
Catholic Schools & Colleges
Primary Schools: 190
High Schools: 37
Sixth Form Colleges: 2
[edit] Archbishop & Metropolitan
The current archbishop is His Grace the Most Reverend Patrick Altham Kelly, MKHS, STL, PhL, the 11th Bishop and 8th Metropolitan Archbishop of Liverpool. Archbishop Kelly is also Vice President of The Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
[edit] Cathedral Church
The Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (usually shortened to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, England. It replaced the Pro-Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Copperas Hill. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishophric of Liverpool, the mother church of Liverpool's Catholics, and the metropolitan church of the ecclesiastical Northern Province.
In 1853 Bishop Goss awarded the commission for the building of a new Roman Catholic cathedral to Edward Welby Pugin (1833-1875), the son of Augustus Welby Pugin, the joint architect of the Houses of Parliament and champion of the Gothic Revival. By 1856 the Lady Chapel of the new cathedral had been completed on a site adjacent to the Catholic Institute on Saint Domingo Road, Everton. Due to financial restrictions work on the building ceased at this point and the Lady Chapel now named Our Lady Immaculate served as parish church to the local Catholic population until its demolition in the 1980s.
Following purchase of the present 9-acre site at Brownlow Hill in 1930 Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) was commissioned to provide a design which would be an appropriate response to the Gilbert Scott-designed Neo-gothic Anglican cathedral then emerging at the other end of Hope Street. Lutyens' design would have created a massive classical/Byzantine structure that would have become the second-largest church in the world. It would have had the world's largest dome. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 5 June 1933, but again financial restrictions caused the abandonment of this plan after construction of the crypt.
The new cathedral, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd and consecrated in 1967, was built on land adjacent to the crypt. Its circular plan was conceived in direct response to the Second Vatican Council's requirements for a greater and more intimate integration of the congregation with the clergy.
- "Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations " Second Vatican Council 1962-1965
Chapels are built in between the buttresses that support the tent-shaped spire (which represents the crown of thorns of Jesus) like tent poles. A short film, Crown of Glass, documents the construction of the cathedral's rainbow-coloured stained glass windows.
The cathedral stands on the site of the Liverpool Workhouse, on Hope Street. Facing it at the opposite end of Hope Street is the Cathedral Church of Christ, Liverpool's Anglican cathedral. Ironically, Lutyens was an Anglican, while the architect of the Anglican cathedral, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was Catholic.
[edit] List of Ordinaries of Liverpool
(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 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5 June 1840 to 29 September 1850 | Bishop George Hilary Brown, Vicar Apostolic of Lancashire District | Becoming Bishop of Liverpool |
| 29 September 1850 to 25 January 1856 | George Hilary Brown, Bishop of Liverpool | Hitherto Vicar Apostolic; died in office |
| 25 January 1856 to 3 October 1872 | Alexander Goss, Bishop of Liverpool | Coadjutor Bishop of Liverpool; died in office |
| 28 February 1873 to 9 April 1894 | Bernard O'Reilly, Bishop of Liverpool | Priest; ordained 19 March 1873; died in office |
| 12 July 1894 to 28 October 1911 | Thomas Whiteside, Bishop of Liverpool | Ordained 15 August 1894; becoming Archbishop |
| 28 October 1911 to 28 January 1921 | Thomas Whiteside, Archbishop of Liverpool | Hitherto Bishop; died in office |
| 13 June 1921 to 7 February 1928 | Frederick William Keating, Archbishop of Liverpool | Bishop of Northampton; died in office |
| 3 August 1928 to 16 June 1953 | Richard Downey, Archbishop of Liverpool | Priest; ordained 21 September 1928; died in office |
| 10 November 1953 to 3 December 1956 | William Godfrey, Archbishop of Liverpool | Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain; appointed Archbishop of Westminster |
| 2 May 1957 to 2 September 1963 | John Carmel Heenan, Archbishop of Liverpool | Bishop of Leeds; appointed Archbishop of Westminster |
| 29 January 1964 to 7 February 1976 | George Andrew Beck, AA, Archbishop of Liverpool | Bishop of Salford; resigned |
| 7 February 1976 to 6 February 1996 | Derek John Worlock, Archbishop of Liverpool | Bishop of Portsmouth; died in office |
| 21 May 1996 to present | Patrick Altham Kelly, MKHS, STL, PhL, Metropolitan Archbishop of Liverpool | Bishop of Salford |
[edit] William Cardinal Godfrey
William Cardinal Godfrey (25 September 1889 - 22 January 1963) was a Roman Catholic bishop, his highest posting was as Archbishop of Westminster. Born in Liverpool, he was educated at Ushaw College and at the Venerable English College, where he was ordained in 1916, during the First World War. He gained his Doctorate the following year. He then taught at Ushaw for 12 years: Classics, Philosophy and Theology. In 1930 he was appointed Rector of the College where during the next eight years he watched Mussolini’s rise to power. He was known affectionately to his students despite his strictness as ‘Uncle Bill’. In 1938 he became the first Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain, Gibraltar and Malta and he served in this post with such discretion that in 1953, long after the war, he became Archbishop of Liverpool and in 1956 he was appointed as Archbishop of Westminster. He was created Cardinal two years later. He died in London on 22 January 1963, aged 73.
[edit] Vincent Nichols
Most Rev. Vincent Gerard Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham was born in Crosby, Liverpool on 8 November 1945. He entered the Venerable English College (Rome) in 1963 and was ordained priest on 21 December 1969. His further studies include obtaining the Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Manchester, specialising in the theology of St John Fisher. After working in the Archdiocese of Liverpool for 14 years, including, latterly, as the Director of the Upholland Northern Institute, Vincent Nichols was appointed General Secretary of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of England & Wales for nine years. In 1992 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as Titular Bishop of Othona. He served as an auxiliary Bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster between 1992 and 2000, having special pastoral oversight for North London. During this time he served under Basil Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster. He presided over the burial of Cardinal Hume, at the end of his Requiem Mass in 1999.
[edit] John Rawsthorne
Rt. Rev. Bishop John Rawsthorne, Bishop of Hallam (born 12 November 1936) is the current Ordinary of the Diocese of Hallam in the Province of Liverpool. He had previously been a priest and later Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Titular Bishop of Rotdon. Bishop Rawsthorne succeeded Bishop Gerald Moverley, the 1st Bishop of Hallam when Bishop Moverley resigned in July 1996. Rawsthorne was selected as the 2nd Bishop of Hallam on 4 June 1997 and was installed on 3 July 1997. The Bishop is a keen walker and takes part in a sponsored walk every year to raise money to support St. Wilfrid's Drop-in Day Centre in Sheffield.
[edit] Paul Gallagher
Most Rev. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, STL, JCD, Papal Nuncio to Burundi was born in Liverpool and educated at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Woolton. Ordained By Archbishop Derek Worlock in 1977 he served in Fazakerley before becoming a member of the Vatican Diplomatic Service. Since 1984 he has held posts in Tanzania, Uruguay, the Philippines, the Vatican Secretariat of State in Rome and with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The Vatican announced his appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi in January 2004.
[edit] Vincent Malone
Rt. Rev. Vincent Malone, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Liverpool was born in Liverpool on 11 September 1931. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Liverpool archdiocese at St Oswald's, Old Swan, Liverpool on 18 September 1955. He was ordained Titular Bishop of Abora and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Liverpool by Archbishop Derek Worlock on 3 July 1989. It was officially announced on 26 October 2006 that Bishop Vincent Malone would be retiring as Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool. In common with all Bishops he was required to submit his letter of retirement to Pope Benedict XVI on reaching the age of 75. He will continue to be a Vicar General, a member of the Archbishop's council and a Trustee of the Archdiocese.
[edit] Augustine Harris
Rt Rev Bishop Augustine Harris, Bishop Emeritus of Middlesborough was born in Liverpool and ordained a priest at Upholland College on 30 May 1942 for the Archdiocese of Liverpool. He was ordained Titular Bishop of Socia and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Liverpool by Archbishop George Andrew Beck on 11 February 1966. He translated to the Diocese of Middlesbrough on 20 November 1978 and retired on 3 November 1992. In retirement he lived in Formby and latterly at Ince Blundell Hall, where he died, aged 79.
[edit] Peter Fleetwood
Very Rev. Msgr. Peter Fleetwood, STB, Ph.L was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Liverpool in 1977. He has held several posts in the Vatican's service most recently at the Pontifical Council for Culture and presently serving at the European Bishop's Conference based in Switzerland.
[edit] LAMP (Latin American Missionary Project)
The Archdiocese of Liverpool has a long tradition of sending priests to work on the Missions in Latin America, in particular Peru. At present there are three priests involved in ministering to disadvantaged communities in Peru. They are Revs. Joseph Bibby, Simon Cadwallader and Dennis Parry.
[edit] Nugent Care Society
Based in Liverpool, the Nugent Care Society has provided extensive care services to those in need for over a 100 years. During this period its services have adapted to the changing needs of individuals and society but its ethos has remained constant.
Nugent Care's philosophy is based around the life and work of Father James Nugent (1822-1905) who had a dramatic impact on the quality of life of vulnerable children and individuals. Today Father Nugent's work continues through Nugent Care.
On his visit in 1982, Pope John Paul II observed that Liverpool's 'greatest heritage is found in all those who have stuggled to overcome the ills of society and to build up a common brotherhood' and in this regard Father Nugent was Liverpool's 'own pioneer of charity'.
[edit] External links
- Cathedral site
- Archdiocese site
- Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation
- Nugent Care Society website
- Giga-Catholic Information
- image of the Lutyens design (Courtesy of Dream Organs)
"Liverpool". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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