Archdiocese of Birmingham

Archdiocese of Birmingham Archidioecesis Birminghamiensis
Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Birmingham
Location
Country	England
Territory	Counties of Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire
Ecclesiastical province	Birmingham
Metropolitan	Birmingham
Statistics
Area	8,735 km2 (3,373 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 4,945,600 438,675 (8.9%)
Parishes	222
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	29 September 1850 (As Diocese of Birmingham) 28 October 1911 (As Archdiocese of Birmingham)
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad, Birmingham
Secular priests	260
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Most Rev. Bernard Longley
Auxiliary Bishops	Rt Rev. Leonard William Kenney Rt Rev. David Christopher McGough Rt Rev. Robert Byrne
Vicar General	Very Rev. Mgr. Timothy Menezes VG
Episcopal Vicars	Very Rev. Fr Stephen Wright Sr Anna O'Connor SP
Judicial Vicar	Very Rev. Fr Joseph McLoughlin
Emeritus Bishops	Rt Rev. Philip Pargeter
Map
The Archdiocese of Birmingham within the Province of Birmingham
Website
birminghamdiocese.org.uk

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of 3,373 square miles (8,740 km²), encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of Oxfordshire as well as Caversham in Berkshire. The metropolitan see is in the City of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad. The metropolitan province includes the suffragan diocese of Clifton and Shrewsbury.

The Archbishop is Bernard Longley, who was named the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009. He succeeds the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols (2000-2009). Bishop Longley was installed as Archbishop of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad on 8 December 2009, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and one of the patronal feasts of the Archdiocese, St Chad being the other.

Erected as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Midlands District in 1688, the vicariate grew very slowly until the advent of the industrial revolution. In response to the large growth the name was changed in 1840 to the Vicariate Apostolic of Central District and a new vicariate created out of the eastern district.