Catholic Diocese of Northampton
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The Diocese of Northampton is one of the 22 Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate & St Thomas of Canterbury is the mother church of the Diocese.
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[edit] Location
The diocese covers the current counties of Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire and the old county of Buckinghamshire, including the Slough area.
[edit] History
When St Augustine came from Rome in 597 he concentrated on the areas of Kent and Essex, but thirty years later the area that the Northampton Diocese covers finally received the Christian message, with the arrival of the missionary St Birinius and the foundation of his see at Dorchester-on-Thames in 636. Nevertheless the real evangelisation of the people who dwelt in the diocese was achieved through the labours and missionaries of the isle of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast. Notable amongst them was St Chad, whose see, established at Lichfield in 669, included the present diocese of Northampton.
From the time of the reformation until 1850, Catholic dioceses ceased to exist in Britain. However on the 29 September 1850 by Letters Apostolic, issued by Pope Pius IX, the English Hierarchy was restored, and the diocese of Northampton came into being. Its first bishop was William Wareing, previously Vicar Apostolic of the Midland Region.
On 13 March 1976, by decree Quod Ecumenicum, Pope Paul VI formed the Diocese of East Anglia for the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk by detaching these counties from the Diocese of Northampton.
[edit] Bishops
The current Bishop of Northampton is Peter John Haworth Doyle, born on 3 May 1944 at Wilpshire, near Blackburn in Lancashire.
Bishop Patrick Leo McCartie is the bishop emeritus of Northampton, having retired on 29 Mar 2001 after serving the diocese for 11 years. He was succeeded by bishop Kevin John Patrick McDonald who went on to be appointed Archbishop of Southwark on 6 November 2003.
[edit] Ordinaries
- William Wareing † (5 Jun 1840 Appointed - 21 Dec 1858 Resigned)
- Francis Kerril Amherst † (14 May 1858 Appointed - 16 Oct 1879 Resigned)
- Arthur George Riddell † (27 Apr 1880 Appointed - 15 Sep 1907 Died)
- Frederick William Keating † (5 Feb 1908 Appointed - 13 Jun 1921 Appointed, Archbishop of Liverpool)
- Dudley Charles Cary-Elwes † (21 Nov 1921 Appointed - 1 May 1932 Died)
- Laurence William Youens † (16 Jun 1933 Appointed - 14 Nov 1939 Died)
- Thomas Leo Parker † (14 Dec 1940 Appointed - 17 Jan 1967 Retired)
- Charles Alexander Grant † (14 Mar 1967 Appointed - 16 Feb 1982 Retired)
- Francis Gerard Thomas † (27 Aug 1982 Appointed - 25 Dec 1988 Died)
- Patrick Leo McCartie (20 Feb 1990 Appointed - 29 Mar 2001 Retired)
- Kevin John Patrick McDonald (29 Mar 2001 Appointed - 6 Nov 2003 Appointed, Archbishop of Southwark)
- Peter John Haworth Doyle (24 May 2005 Appointed - )
[edit] Statistics
The estimated Catholic population of the diocese in 2004 was 173,539 while the total population in the diocesan territory was 2,000,769. The diocese covers a territory of 5,532 km² and has 68 parishes.
[edit] Pilgrimage
The Northampton Diocese makes up part of the Catholic Association Pilgrimage.
[edit] External links
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Province of Westminster
Province of Birmingham
Province of Liverpool
Province of Southwark
Province of Cardiff
Other Dioceses
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