Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster

Diocese of Westminster Dioecesis Vestmonasteriensis
Crest of the diocese
Location
Country	England
Territory	Greater London boroughs north of the Thames and west of Waltham Forest and Newham, plus the districts of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and the county of Hertfordshire.
Ecclesiastical province	Westminster
Metropolitan	Westminster
Deaneries	23
Statistics
Area	3,634 km2 (1,403 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 4,726,206 476,647 (10.1%)
Parishes	216
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	29 September 1850
Cathedral	Westminster Cathedral
Secular priests	366
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Auxiliary Bishops	Rt Rev. John Sherrington Rt Rev. Nicholas Hudson Rt Rev. Paul McAleenan Rt Rev. John Wilson
Vicar General	Very Rev. Mgr Martin Hayes
Emeritus Bishops	Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Website
rcdow.org.uk

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in England, historically however it has always been styled the Diocese of Westminster. The diocese consists of all of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne, Surrey and the county of Hertfordshire, which lies immediately to London's north.

The diocese is led by the Archbishop of Westminster, who serves as pastor of the mother church, Westminster Cathedral, as well as the metropolitan bishop of the Metropolitan Province of Westminster. Since the re-establishment of the English Catholic dioceses in 1850 each Archbishop of Westminster, including the incumbent, Archbishop Vincent Gerard Nichols, has been created a cardinal by the Pope in consistory, often as the only cardinal in England. 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 has special privileges conferred by the Papal Bull Si qua est. 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" and as "similar to" that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 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.