List of Catholic dioceses in Great Britain



and Wales, with the rest of the United Kingdom
The Catholic dioceses in Great Britain are organised by two separate hierarchies: the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and the Catholic Church in Scotland. Within Great Britain, the Catholic Church of England and Wales has five provinces, subdivided into 22 dioceses, and the Catholic Church of Scotland has two provinces, subdivided into 8 dioceses. The Catholic dioceses in Northern Ireland are organised together with those in the Republic of Ireland, as the Church in Ireland was not divided when civil authority in Ireland was partitioned in the 1920s.
A diocese, also known as a bishopric, is an administrative unit under the supervision of a bishop. The Diocese of Westminster is considered the mother church of English and Welsh Catholics, and although not formally a primate, the archbishop of Westminster is usually 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.
From the time of the English Reformation in the 16th century, with Catholicism becoming illegal, there were no Catholic dioceses in England and Wales, with several apostolic vicars, bishops of titular sees governing not in their own name, as diocesan bishops do, but provisionally in the name of the Pope, being appointed instead. However, with the passing of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, legalising the practice of the Catholic faith again, Pope Pius IX recreated the Catholic Church diocesan hierarchy on 29 September 1850 by issuing the papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae. The Hierarchy in Scotland was restored in 1878.
Three Catholic dioceses, those of Leeds, Liverpool, and Portsmouth, share their territorial name with Anglican dioceses, the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, the Anglican diocese of Liverpool, and the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth respectively. However, in these cases the dioceses cover differing areas.
The Catholic Church in Scotland comprises two Latin ecclesiastical provinces each headed by a Metropolitan archbishop. The provinces in turn are subdivided into 6 dioceses and 2 archdioceses, each headed by a bishop or an archbishop, respectively.
There is an Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain as papal diplomatic representation to the British authorities

Current Latin provinces and sees in Great Britain

Episcopal Conference of England and Wales

Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham (founded 1911)

Ecclesiastical province of Cardiff (founded 1916)

Ecclesiastical province of Liverpool (founded 1911)

Ecclesiastical province of Southwark (founded 1965)

Ecclesiastical province of Westminster (founded 1850)

Episcopal conference of Scotland

Ecclesiastical province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh

The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Pope.