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Mount Carmel

Catholic Primary School

I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full - John 10:10

Westminster Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese[1] of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of all of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and the county of Hertfordshire, which lies immediately to London's north.

Archdiocese of Westminster

 

Dioecesis Vestmonasteriensis

New Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Westminster.svg

Arms of the diocese

Location
Country England
Territory Greater London boroughs north of the Thames and west of Waltham Forest and Newham, plus the City of London, the districts of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames, and the county of Hertfordshire.
Ecclesiastical province Westminster
Deaneries 23
Statistics
Area 3,634 km2(1,403 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2015)
Increase 4,893,000
Decrease 453,700 (Decrease 9.3%)
Parishes 214
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Latin Rite
Established 29 September 1850
Cathedral Westminster Cathedral
Secular priests 366
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop His Eminence, Vincent Nichols
Auxiliary Bishops
Vicar General Martin Hayes
Website
rcdow.org.uk

The diocese is led by the Archbishop of Westminster, who serves as pastor of the mother churchWestminster Cathedral, as well as the metropolitan bishopof the ecclesiastical Province of Westminster. Since the re-establishment of the English Catholic dioceses in 1850, each Archbishop of Westminster—including the incumbent, Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols—has been created a cardinalby the Pope in consistory, often as the only cardinal in England, but the 43rd of English cardinals since the 12th century. It is also customary for the Archbishop of Westminster to be elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales providing a degree of a formal direction for the other English bishops and archbishops. However, he is not formally a primate, though he has special privileges conferred by the Papal Bull Si qua est.[2] The Archbishop of Westminster has not been granted the title of Primate of England and Wales, which is sometimes applied to him, but his position has been described as that of "chief metropolitan" of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales and as "similar to" that of the Archbishop of Canterburyin the Church of England (as the metropolitan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury.[3] The diocese is one of the smallest dioceses in England and Wales in geographical area, but the largest in terms of Catholic population and priests.[4]

The suffragan sees of Westminster are the dioceses of Brentwood, East Anglia, Northampton, and Nottingham.