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Diocese of Salford

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Diocese of Salford
Dioecesis Salfordensis
Salford Cathedral
Salford Cathedral
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 2017)
2,800,000
294,000 (10.5%)
Parishes 145
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 Leo XIV
Bishop John Arnold
Metropolitan Archbishop John Francis Sherrington
Vicar General Michael Cooke
John Daly
Peter Hopkinson
Episcopal Vicars Paul Daly
Gerald Murphy
Judicial Vicar Christopher Dawson
Bishops emeritus Terence Brain
Map
The Diocese of Salford within the Province of Liverpool
Website
dioceseofsalford.org.uk

The Diocese of Salford (Latin: Dioecesis Salfordensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church centred on the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. The diocese was founded in 1852 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 as well as a large part of North West England between the River Mersey and the River Ribble, some parishes north of the Ribble, and Todmorden in West Yorkshire. In 2005, the diocese included 207 churches and chapels.

History

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 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 William Turner (1790–1872). He was succeeded in 1872 by Herbert Vaughan (1832–1903). On Vaughan's translation to Westminster in 1892, John Bilsborrow (1836–1903) was consecrated as the third bishop. Louis Charles Casartelli, 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.[1]

Bishops of Salford

Diocesan Bishops of Salford

  • William Turner (appointed on 27 June 1851 – died on 13 July 1872)
  • Herbert Vaughan (appointed on 27 September 1872 – translated to Westminster on 8 April 1892) (Cardinal in 1893)
  • John Bilsborrow (appointed on 15 July 1892 – died on 5 March 1903)
  • Louis Charles Casartelli (appointed on 28 August 1903 – died on 18 January 1925)
  • Thomas Henshaw (appointed on 14 December 1925 – died on 23 September 1938)
  • Henry Vincent Marshall (appointed on 5 August 1939 – died on 14 April 1955)
  • George Andrew Beck (appointed on 28 November 1955 – translated to Liverpool on 29 January 1964)
  • Thomas Holland (appointed on 28 August 1964 – retired on 22 June 1983)
  • Patrick Altham Kelly (appointed on 9 March 1984 – translated to Liverpool on 21 May 1996)
  • Terence Brain (appointed on 2 September 1997 – retired on 2 October 2014)
  • John Arnold (appointed on 30 September 2014)

Auxiliary Bishops of Salford

  • John Stephen Vaughan (appointed on 13 July 1909 – died on 4 December 1925).[2]
  • Geoffrey Burke (appointed on 26 May 1967 – retired on 12 September 1988).[3]

Bishops of other dioceses who were priests of Salford diocese

  • James Cunningham, appointed auxiliary bishop of Hexham and Newcastle in 1957
  • George Patrick Dwyer, appointed Bishop of Leeds in 1957
  • John Francis McNulty, appointed Bishop of Nottingham in 1932
  • Thomas Leo Parker, appointed Bishop of Northampton in 1940
  • Mark Davies, appointed Bishop of Shrewsbury in 2009, becoming Bishop in 2010

Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, usually known as Salford Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Salford and mother church of the Diocese of Salford. The cathedral is a Grade II listed building on Chapel Street, Salford. The foundation stone was laid in 1844 and the church opened in 1848. It was elevated to cathedral status in 1852 after the 1850 creation of the Diocese of Salford. The cathedral was consecrated in 1890 by the second Bishop of Salford, Herbert Vaughan, following the final repayment of debts from its construction.

Schools

Primary

As of 2024, 165 voluntary aided state Roman Catholic primary schools (often denoted in their names by VA, RC or RCPS) are in the Diocese of Salford, located across the local authorities of Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Calderdale, Lancashire, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan.[4]

Secondary

There are 26 voluntary aided local authority maintained Roman Catholic high schools (RCHS) and sixth-form colleges:[4]

A further seven secondary schools are run as academies:[4]

  • All Saints RCHS, Rawtenstall
  • Blessed Trinity RCHS, Burnley
  • St Anne's RCHS, Heaton Chapel
  • St Antony's RCHS, Urmston
  • St Augustine RCHS, Billington
  • St Gabriel's RCHS, Bury
  • St Monica's RCHS, Prestwich

Special education

St John Vianney Special School in Firswood, Manchester, teaches pupils aged 5 to 19.

Private

The following private Catholic schools also exist in the Diocese of Salford as of 2024:[4]

  • Oakhill School and Nursery, Clitheroe
  • St Bede's College and Preparatory School, Manchester
  • St Joseph's Park Hill School, Burnley
  • Stella Maris School, Stockport
  • Stonyhurst College and St Mary's Hall Preparatory School, Clitheroe

See also

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[5]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Salford — (Salfordiensis). The Diocese of Salford comprises the Hundreds of Salford and Blackburn, in Lancashire, England, and was erected 29 Sept., 1850. It covers the east and south-eastern portions of Lancashire and embraces the manufacturing towns of Manchester, Salford, Blackburn, Oldham, Bury, Burnley, Rochdale, etc. Its area is practically coextensive with that of the ancient Catholic deanery of Manchester, which was under the jurisdiction of the rector or dean, but its title was taken from Salford instead of Manchester to avoid offending Protestant susceptibilities, as an Anglican See of Manchester had been erected in 1847. The Apostolic Letter of Pius IX, which divided the Lancashire District into the two Sees of Liverpool and Salford, allotted to Salford the Hundred of Leyland in addition to those of Blackburn and Salford, but a papal Brief dated 27 June, 1851, transferred to Liverpool the Hundred of Leyland which included the important Catholic town of Preston.

The Hundred of Blackburn, covering the north-western portion of the diocese, extends twenty-four miles east to west, and fourteen miles north to south. In the chequered history of the Church following on the religious changes of the sixteenth century it had, with Salford, a long roll of recusants and martyrs for the Faith. The ruins of Whalley Abbey, a thirteenth-century Cistercian foundation, still bear their silent witness. Its abbot, John Paslew, was hanged outside its walls in 1537 for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536; and the property was seized for the use of Henry VIII. The first post-Reformation chapel in Blackburn was opened in 1773, and in Manchester in 1774. In 1843 the Rev. James Sharples, rector of St. Alban's, Blackburn, was consecrated Bishop of Samaria and appointed coadjutor to Bishop Brown, the first vicar Apostolic for 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 16 Aug., 1850, and the first Bishop of Salford in the restored hierarchy was Rt. Rev. William Turner (1790-1872). He was succeeded in 1872 by the Rt. Rev. Herbert Vaughan (1832-1903), whose episcopate was remarkable for its energy, organizing ability and initiation of works to meet the rapid grown and development of the diocese. On his transference to Westminster in 1892, the Rt. Rev. John Bilsborrow (1836-1903) was consecrated third bishop. The Rt. Rev. Louis Charles Casartelli, D.D., M.A., Litt.Or.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 is widely known as a writer on Oriental subjects, was a professor at Louvain, and has always been very active in the theologico-literary field. The Rt. Rev. John S. Vaughan, D.D., Bishop of Sebastopolis, was elected auxiliary bishop in 1909.

Population

The Catholic population is estimated at about 300,000, and this is largely a growth of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Although Catholic memories and traditions lingered in Lancashire long after the Reformation, in 1690 only two Catholics were enrolled on the Manchester Poll Book. Ten years later, thirteen Catholic families, according to the returns of the Bishop of Chester, existed in the parish of Manchester with its area of sixty square miles. In 1775 the number of Catholic baptisms in Manchester was thirty-two, whilst the congregation of St. Chad's Catholic Chapel, which had been opened in 1774, was estimated at 500. A survey made for the statistical society of the various Sunday schools in Manchester and Salford in 1836 returned the number of Catholic schools as ten, with an attendance of 4295 scholars. Similar small beginnings were witnessed it the Blackburn Hundred. In 1793 there is record of twenty-six Catholic baptisms for Blackburn. The number of Catholics in the town in 1804 was estimated at 745, and in 1819 the number had increased to 1200 for the town and district.

Missions and Priests

At the present time there are in the diocese 138 public churches and chapels, 48 convents and private chapels, and 10 chapels of institutions in which Mass is said. The secular clergy number 235, and in addition there are 86 regulars belonging to the Benedictines, Friars Minor, Dominicans, Premonstratensians, Jesuits, Missionary Fathers of St. Joseph, and the Congregation of the Divine Pastor.

Education

A chain of efficient Catholic elementary schools links up the compulsory secular instruction with the Catholic religious teaching given in them. 55,000 children are on the rolls of the 140 Catholic schools, with their 263 departments and a teaching staff of 1591 Catholic teachers. A training college for residential female teachers, conducted by the Order of the Faithful Companions of Jesus, adds to the completeness of the organization for elementary education. For secondary or higher education there are 18 schools and colleges. Stonyhurst, the great Jesuit college, is the successor of the College of St. Omer, which was founded by Father Robert Parsons, S.J., in 1592 and transferred to Lancashire on 29 Aug., 1794.

Works of Charity

One of the great works of Cardinal Vaughan during his Salford episcopate was the founding of the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society in July, 1886. The object was to protect and save the destitute Catholic child whose Faith was in danger. 6569 boys and girls have passed through its homes during the years 1886-1911, and its annual expenditure exceeds x4000. The "Harvest", a monthly publication, is its official organ. Orphanages for girls, institutions for the aged and poor under the Little Sisters of the Poor, night shelters for homeless girls under the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of St. Joseph in connection with the Rescue Society, sisters who nurse the poor in their own homes, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd who seek to reclaim the fallen, Nazareth House, industrial schools for boys under the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and Brothers of Mercy, and for girls under the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul; all these manifest an untiring activity in ameliorating the lot of the poor, the forlorn, and the sick.

The Catholic Federation and Other Organizations

Drastic educational legislation proposed by the government in 1906 and the imperative need for the organization of Catholic forces led to the formation of the Catholic Federation by Bishop Casartelli in 1906. Its primary object is the defence of purely Catholic interests, in which equality of treatment for Catholic schools largely predominates. The official organ is the "Catholic Federationist", which was first issued in Jan., 1910, and is used by the bishop as a vehicle to convey his "message" on current questions.

Other societies are: a local branch of the Catholic Truth Society, the parent society of which was reorganized by Cardinal Vaughan when Bishop of Salford in 1884; the School of Social Science; the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; the Ladies of Charity; the Catholic Needlework Guild; the Catholic Boys' Brigade; the Catholic Philharmonic Society; and the Catholic Women's League, with its notable offshoot "The Mothers' and Babes' Welcome".

Almanac for the Diocese of Salford (Salford, annually since 1877); SNEAD-COX, Life of Cardinal Vaughan, vol. I (London, 1910); O'DEA, The Story of the Old Faith in Manchester (Manchester, 1910); GERARD, Stonyhurst College, Centenary Record (Belfast, 1894); GRUGGEN AND KEATINGE, History of Stonyhurst College (London, 1901); SMITH, Chronicles of Blackburnshire (Nelson, 1910); CURLEY, The Catholic Hist. Of Oldham (Oldham, 1911).

References

  1. Back to citation Wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Salford
  2. Back to citation "Bishop John Francis Vaughan". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 22 November 2011. Note: The website has the incorrect middle name.
  3. Back to citation "Bishop Geoffrey Burke". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  4. Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 Back to citation occurrence 4.2 Back to citation occurrence 4.3 "Schools". Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  5. Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, official website

Further reading

  • Almanac for the Diocese of Salford; for the year 1877 etc. Various publishers; OCLC 498232398 (annual: cover title: Salford Diocesan Almanac)
  • Cooke, Michael; Parkinson, Francis (2008). Salford Diocesan Almanac 2009. Salford. p. 232. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.(includes a directory detailing the histories of all the churches and chapels which have either closed or changed their names)

53°29′N 2°16′W / 53.48°N 2.26°W

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