Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford

Diocese of Salford Dioecesis Salfordensis
The coat of arms of the Diocese of Salford
Location
Country	England
Territory	Most of Greater Manchester and neighbouring parts of Lancashire.
Ecclesiastical province	Liverpool
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Liverpool
Statistics
Area	1,600 km2 (620 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 2,250,000 289,470 (12.9%)
Parishes	195
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	29 September 1850
Cathedral	Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist
Secular priests	251
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	John Arnold
Metropolitan Archbishop	Malcolm McMahon
Vicar General	Anthony Kay
Episcopal Vicars	Paul Brindle
Emeritus Bishops	Terence Brain
Map
The Diocese of Salford within the Province of Liverpool
Website
dioceseofsalford.org.uk

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is centred on the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England.

The diocese was founded in 1850 as one of the first post-Reformation Catholic dioceses in Great Britain. Since 1911 it has formed part of the Province of Liverpool. Its current boundaries encompass Manchester and a large part of North West England, between the River Mersey and the River Ribble, as well as some parishes north of the Ribble and Todmorden in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. Stonyhurst College is also within the diocese. In 2005, the diocese included 207 churches and chapels.

The first post-Reformation Catholic chapel in Blackburn was opened in 1773, and that in Manchester in 1774 (in Rook Street, dedicated to St Chad). In 1843 the Rev. James Sharples, rector of St. Alban's, Blackburn, was consecrated Titular Bishop of Samaria and appointed coadjutor to Bishop Brown, the first Vicar Apostolic of the Lancashire District. He built at Salford St. John's Church, which was opened in 1848 and which subsequently became the cathedral for the diocese.

Dr. Sharples died on 16 August 1850 and the first Bishop of Salford in the restored hierarchy was the Most. Rev. William Turner (1790–1872). He was succeeded in 1872 by the Most. Rev. Herbert Vaughan (1832–1903). On his translation to Westminster in 1892, the Most. Rev. John Bilsborrow (1836–1903) was consecrated as the third bishop. The Most. Rev. Louis Charles Casartelli, D.D., M.A., Litt.D., the fourth bishop, was born in 1852, and ordained priest in 1876. He was closely associated with Cardinal Vaughan in the foundation of St. Bede's College, Manchester, in 1876, and was rector of it when he was nominated bishop in 1903. Bishop Casartelli was also a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, and known as a writer on Oriental subjects.