Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton
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Diocese of Clifton Dioecesis Cliftoniensis |
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Symbol of the Diocese of Clifton
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| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Territory | Counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and the Greater Bristol Area |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province of Birmingham |
| Metropolitan | Birmingham |
| Coordinates | 51°27′22″N 2°36′58″W / 51.456°N 2.616°W |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 10,912 km2 (4,213 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 2,137,000 199,900 (9.4%) |
| Parishes | 107 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 29 September 1850 |
| Cathedral | Clifton Cathedral |
| Secular priests | 128 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Declan Ronan Lang |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Bernard Longley |
| Vicar General |
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| Episcopal Vicars |
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| Map | |
 Diocese of Clifton within the Province of Birmingham |
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| Website | |
| cliftondiocese.com | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Roman Catholic diocese centred on the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England.
The diocese covers the City and County of Bristol and the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire, an area of 4,215 square miles (10,920 km2). Thus it stretches from Stow in the Wold in the north to Minehead and Watchet in the South. The most north-westerly parishes are in the Forest of Dean, while Marlborough near Swindon is one of the most easterly. The City of Bristol, of which Clifton is a suburb, is the largest centre of population within the Diocese; Swindon is the next biggest. Other well-known cities and towns include Bath, Wells, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Salisbury, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare.
The Clifton Diocese makes up part of the Catholic Association Pilgrimage. It has more regularly scheduled Sunday Masses celebrated in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (sometimes known as the Tridentine Mass) within its boundaries than any other diocese in England and Wales.
The Diocese has 107 Parishes, or the equivalent. Many have chapels-of-ease or other Mass centres, adding a total of 99 chapels. The parishes are run by a mixture of Diocesan priests, and priests who belong to Religious Orders such as the Benedictines, Franciscans and others.
The diocese is divided into 13 deaneries:
The English Reformation suppressed the Catholic hierarchy in England by the mid-16th century. In 1622 the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith created an apostolic vicariate for the whole of England, which was divided into four districts in 1688. The Western District, comprising the whole of Wales and the present Dioceses of Plymouth and Clifton, was by far the poorest. The hierarchy was restored in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, and the Western District was created the Diocese of Clifton, so-called because the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851 (repealed 20 years later by the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1871) made it illegal for Catholic dioceses to use the same title as current or former Anglican dioceses, despite the fact that the Diocese of Clifton had its Cathedral Church within the City of Bristol. The apostolic vicar William Joseph Hendren was appointed as the first bishop.
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