The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Catholic Church in Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th ce ...

. It is one of two suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cardiff and is subject to the

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 ...

History

On 12 May 1898, the Apostolic Vicariate of Wales was elevated to diocesan status and had its seat at the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Wrexham until 1987 when the

Diocese of Wrexham The Diocese of Wrexham, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff. History The diocese was erect ...

was created.The Diocese of Menevia currently covers the area roughly that of the ancient

Diocese of St Davids The Diocese of St Davids is a diocese of the Church in Wales, a church of the Anglican Communion. The diocese covers the historic extent of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, together with a small part of western Glamorgan. The episcop ...

. ("Menevia" was the Roman name for St Davids.) The diocese is currently led by an Archbishop Mark O'Toole who is also

Archbishop of Cardiff The Archbishop of Cardiff is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff.Universalis Ecclesiae was a papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given ...

: The Roman Catholic Church in Wales is split between 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 ...

in the north and the

Diocese of Newport and Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Newport (and Menevia) was the Latin Catholic precursor (1840-1916) in Wales and southwest England of the present Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff, with see in Newport, Wales, and was revived as Latin titular see. ...

in the south. * 4 September 1860: Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire, the cathedral priory of the Diocese of Newport and Menevia is consecrated. * 4 July 1895: The Diocese of Newport and Menevia splits. Glamorgan, Monmouth and Herefordshire become the Diocese of Newport. The rest of Wales, including North Wales from the Diocese of Shrewsbury, becomes the Apostolic Vicariate of Wales.History
from Cardiff Cathedral retrieved 5 April 2014 * 12 May 1898: The Apostolic Vicariate of Wales become the Diocese of Menevia with

Wrexham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as St Mary's Cathedral or Wrexham Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Wrexham, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Wrexham, and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrex ...

as its pro-cathedral. * 7 February 1916: The Diocese of Newport becomes the Archdiocese of Cardiff and it is decided that St David's church in Cardiff would become its cathedral. * 12 March 1920: St David's Cathedral, Cardiff is officially made the metropolitan cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cardiff. * 12 February 1987: The Diocese of Menevia is split. The north becomes the

with its cathedral remaining in Wrexham. The south remains the Diocese of Menevia and sets up Swansea Cathedral.

Details

In 2007, there were 27,561 Catholics in the diocese which was served by 34

diocesan priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...

s, 19

religious priest Regular clergy, or just regulars, are clerics in the Catholic Church who follow a rule () of life, and are therefore also members of religious institutes. Secular clergy are clerics who are not bound by a rule of life. Terminology and history ...

s, 9 non-ordained male

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

and 100 female religious. There are 34 Catholic educational institutions in the diocese, including three secondary schools: * St Joseph's Catholic School and Sixth-Form Centre, Port Talbot * St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School, Llanelli *

Bishop Vaughan Catholic School Bishop Vaughan Catholic School is a coeducational Catholic secondary school in the Morriston area of Swansea. It is under the remit of the Diocese of Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales ...

, Swansea Founded in 1965, St Joseph's School was the first Catholic comprehensive school in Wales. The geographic remit consists of the City and County of Swansea, Neath and

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

, and the traditional counties of Brecknockshire, Cardiganshire,

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, Pembrokeshire and Radnorshire - an area of roughly. The cathedra is located at

St Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea The Cathedral Church of Saint Joseph – also known as St Joseph's Cathedral, Menevia Cathedral or Swansea Cathedral – is a Grade II-listed Roman Catholic cathedral in Swansea, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Menevia and mother church ...

. Situated within the diocese is the Welsh National Shrine of Our Lady of Cardigan at Cardigan.

Bishops

Ordinaries

* Francis Edward Joseph Mostyn † (4 July 1895 – 7 March 1921 appointed archbishop 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 ...

) * Francis J. Vaughan † (21 June 1926 – 13 March 1935 died) *

Michael Joseph McGrath Michael Joseph McGrath (24 March 1882 – 28 February 1961) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served first as the bishop of Menevia from 1935 to 1940, then the archbishop of Cardiff from 1940 to 1961. Personal history ...

† (10 August 1935 – 20 June 1940 appointed archbishop of Cardiff) *

Daniel Joseph Hannon Daniel Joseph Hannon (12 June 1884 – 26 April 1946) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Menevia from 1941 to 1946. Born in Rotherham, Yorkshire on 12 June 1884, he was ordained to the priesthood on 22 September 1907. He wa ...

† (15 March 1941 – 26 April 1946 died) *

John Edward Petit John Edward Petit (22 June 1895 – 2 June 1973) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Menevia from 1947 to 1972. Born in London on 22 June 1895, he was ordained to the priesthood on 9 May 1918. He was appointed the Bishop of t ...

† (8 February 1947 – 16 June 1972 retired) * Langton Douglas Fox † (16 June 1972 – 5 February 1981 resigned) * John Aloysius Ward, OFM Cap † (5 February 1981 succeeded – 25 March 1983 appointed archbishop of Cardiff) *

James Hannigan James Hannigan (born 23 July 1971) is a British composer with credits in the ''Harry Potter'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''Command and Conquer'' (including Red Alert 3's well-known Soviet March), ''Dead Space'', ''Warhammer'', ''Cloudy With ...

† (13 October 1983 – 12 February 1987 appointed bishop of

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 ...

) * Daniel Joseph Mullins † (12 February 1987 – 12 June 2001 retired) * John Mark Jabalé (12 June 2001 – 16 October 2008 retired) * Thomas Matthew Burns (16 October 2008 – 11 July 2019 retired) * Mark O'Toole (Appointed 27 April 2022. Diocese merged with the Archdiocese of Cardiff ''in persona Episcopi''. Installed on 23 June 2022)

Coadjutor Bishops

* John Peter Mark Jabalé, O.S.B. (2000-2001) * John Aloysius Ward, O.F.M. Cap. † (1980-1981)

Auxiliary Bishop

* Langton Douglas Fox † (1965-1972), appointed Bishop of Menevia.

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Peter Malcolm Brignall (priest here, 1978–1987), appointed Bishop of Wrexham, Wales in 2012

Deaneries

There are a total of five deaneries in the Diocese of Menevia, all of which cover several churches in that area, overseen by a dean. The deaneries are: * Carmarthen Deanery * Llandrindod Wells Deanery * Pembroke Deanery * Port Talbot Deanery * Swansea Deanery

References

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia articleDiocese of Menevia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menevia Organisations based in Swansea Religious organizations established in 1898 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cardiff