The Archbishop of Cardiff is the ordinary of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff ( la, Archidioecesis Cardiffensis; cy, Archesgobaeth Caerdydd) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church which covers the south-east portion of Wales and the county of Herefordshire in ...

.Archdiocese of Cardiff
''Catholic-Hierarchy''. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
''GCatholic''. Retrieved 3 May 2010. The archdiocese covers an area of and spans the historic counties of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and eastern

Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. The

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

is in the city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

where the archbishop's seat is located at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David. With the exception of the second archbishop, Francis Mostyn, born in Flintshire and of local descent, the Welsh connections of the archbishops have been extremely weak. Ireland, London and the English provinces have supplied a majority. The see is currently held by the Most Reverend Mark O'Toole, 8th Archbishop of Cardiff, who was appointed by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

on 27 April 2022 and installed at St David's Cathedral, Cardiff on 20 June 2022.

History

The Vicariate Apostolic of the Welsh District was created out of the Western District of England and Wales in 1840. The Welsh District covered all of the principality of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the English county of

., ''The Episcopal Succession, volume 3'', p. 424. On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

in 1850, the Welsh District was divided. The southern half became the Diocese of Newport and Menevia and the northern half became part of the

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includes rural ar ...

.Titular Episcopal See of Newport
''GCatholic''. Retrieved 3 May 2010. In 1895, the diocese lost territory on the creation of the Vicariate Apostolic of Wales, which became the

diocese of Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff. History On 12 May 1898, the Apos ...

in 1898. As a result, the see changed its name to simply the diocese of Newport. Following further reorganisation of the Catholic Church in Wales in 1916, the diocese of Newport was elevated to an

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

and changed its name to the archdiocese of Cardiff. The archbishop has jurisdiction over the bishops of

Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the Archdiocese of Cardiff. History On 12 May 1898, the Apost ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Office holders

The following is a list of the archbishops of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff and its precursor offices.

Vicars Apostolic of the Welsh District

Bishops of Newport and Menevia

In 1895, the episcopal title became simply the Bishop of Newport.

Archbishops of Cardiff

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Archbishop Of Cardiff Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff de:Erzbistum Cardiff