Archbishop of Westminster

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Image:Arch-of-west-standard.PNG The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, England. The incumbent is Metropolitan of the Province of Westminster and has generally in recent times been elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. The Diocese of Westminster is considered the primary Roman Catholic diocese in England and Wales, although this status is not official, and the diocese is equal to the other Provinces in England and Wales.

There is no connection between the Archdiocese of Westminster and Westminster Abbey, except for geographical proximity. Nor is there a formal connection with the former office of Bishop of Westminster.

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 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 Archdiocese of Westminster, the sole Metropolitan See at that time. However, under Pope Pius X, on 28 October 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 20 July 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.

However, under Pope Paul VI, on 28 May 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 Pope Paul VI on 13 March 1976.

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

The archdiocese presently covers an area of 3,634 km² of the London Boroughs North of the River Thames and the boroughs of Waltham Forest and Newham in the West, 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.

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

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


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List of the Archbishops of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, England


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


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See also

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