Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor

Diocese of Down and Connor Dioecesis Dunensis et Connorensis Deoise An Dúin agus Chonaire
St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast
Location
Country	Northern Ireland
Territory	Most of counties Antrim and Down and part of County Londonderry
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Armagh
Coordinates	54°55′26″N 6°06′07″W / 54.924°N 6.102°W / 54.924; -6.102Coordinates: 54°55′26″N 6°06′07″W / 54.924°N 6.102°W / 54.924; -6.102
Statistics
Area	934 sq mi (2,420 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 1,017,000 464,429 (45.7%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	Down and Connor united in the 15th century
Cathedral	St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast
Patron saint	St Malachy and St MacNissi
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Noel Treanor
Metropolitan Archbishop	Eamon Martin
Emeritus Bishops	Patrick Joseph Walsh, Bishop Emeritus of Down and Connor Anthony J. Farquhar Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus in Down and Connor
Map
Website
downandconnor.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor, (Irish: Deoise an Dúin agus Chonaire) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh and is subject to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh. The incumbent is Bishop Noel Treanor.

Territorial remit

The territorial remit of the diocese includes much of counties Antrim and Down, including the cities of Belfast and Lisburn and the large towns Antrim, Ballymena, Bangor, Carrickfergus, Downpatrick, Holywood, Larne and Newtownards. The population of the diocese is about one million, of which approximately 30% are Roman Catholic. The diocese is Ireland's second largest in terms of population (after the Archdiocese of Dublin).

History

St Fergus (d. 583) is named as first Bishop of Down. The diocese of Connor was founded in 480 by St Macnissi, and St Malachy was bishop there (1124). The dioceses of Down and Connor were permanently joined in 1439.

In 1670, as an effect of the Reformation, wars, and penal laws, in the whole of Down and Connor there were only 2500 Catholic families. When at length the pressure of penal legislation was removed Catholicism revived rapidly.

In the period 1810–1840, due in part to Catholic emancipation in 1829, forty new churches were built. The progress thus made under Dr Crolly (1825–1835) and Dr Denvir (1835–65) was continued, as Belfast expanded as a city, under Dr Dorrian (1865–86) and Dr MacAlister (1886–95) and Dr Henry (1895–1908).

Current Episcopate

There are currently 88 parishes and ministries in the diocese served by 131 active priests. The Most Reverend Noel Treanor. is the 32nd Bishop of Down and Connor. He was ordained to the Episcopate and installed as Bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008.

Priests in Down & Connor serve in parish ministry, school chaplaincy, hospital chaplaincy, youth work, prison chaplaincy, teacher training colleges and teaching in post-primary schools.

At the Diocesan Congress in 2013 Bishop Treanor launched a review to ensure pastoral activities within the diocese matched current resources. To that end a review of pastoral structures was initiated which drew on the 2011 census. Draft new pastoral communities were presented to the clergy in three meetings and then to the pay faithful. Significantly influencing the structures for the future was a regular practice rate across the diocese of 20% which suggested a greater sharing of personnel, skills and finances.

Diocesan statistics

For the year ending 31 December 2007:

• Number of Catholics = 329,243.
• Number of Parishes = 88.
• Number of Churches = 151.
• Number of Priests in Diocesan Ministry = 159.
• Number Ordained (2011) = 1.
• Number of Retired Priests = 31.
• Seminarians = 10.
• Deacons = 1
• Number of Brothers = 30.
• Number of Sisters = 243.
• St. Mary's College of Education on Roll = 994.
• Number of Primary & Nursery Schools = 164 (On Roll = 32,306).
• Number of Grammar Schools = 12 (0n Roll = 10,795).
• Number of Secondary School = 31 (On Roll = 15,621).
• Baptisms = 5,078.
• First Communions = 4,533.
• Confirmations = 4,730.
• Marriages = 1,250.

(The Down and Connor Directory 2011)

List of city parishes

Listed are city parishes listed by the Diocese of Down and Connor.

List of country parishes

Listed are country parishes listed by the Diocese of Down and Connor.

Ad Limina Visit 2006

Bishop Patrick Walsh, Bishop Anthony Farquhar and Bishop Donal McKeown met with Pope Benedict XVI on the first morning of their visit. They spoke with the Pope for 20 minutes privately in which they discussed things like Education, child sexual abuse, peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Ad Limina Visit 2017

Bishop Treanor joined other Irish bishops in February 2017 for the ad limina visit. Unlike previous visits there were no private meetings with diocesan bishops and Pope Francis, rather the latter spoke with the bishops together.

Bishops

Ordinaries

The following is a basic list of the Roman Catholic bishops and vicars apostolic.^[1][2]

Auxiliary Bishops

See also

• Diocese of Down and Dromore (Church of Ireland)
• Diocese of Connor (Church of Ireland)

References

External links

• Diocese of Down and Connor (GCatholic.org)
• Catholic-Hierarchy.org – Diocese Profile
• Profile from NewAdvent.org – info from Catholic Encyclopedia