The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (album) (2011), by Every Little Thing * "Ordinary" (Alex Warren song) (2025) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016 ...

of the

Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews & Edinburgh () is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. It is the metropolitan see of the province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, consisting of the additional suffragan sees of A ...

. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km². The

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

is in the

City of Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. City of Edinburgh may also refer to: *City of Edinburgh (council area), a unitary district established in 1996 **City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edi ...

where the archbishop's seat (''

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

'') is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary. The eighth and current archbishop is

Leo Cushley Leo William Cushley (born 18 June 1961) is a Catholic Church in Scotland, Scottish Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 2013. He previously served as head of the English language section of the Vatica ...

History

After the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

abandoned the hierarchy and for nearly a century Catholics in Scotland were under the jurisdiction of the English

prefects Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

and

vicars apostolic An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

. In 1653, the

Prefecture Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Scotland was established, which was elevated to the

Vicariate Apostolic An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

in 1694. On 23 July 1727, Scotland was divided into the Vicariates Apostolic of the Lowland District and the Highland District, each headed by a vicar apostolic. On 13 February 1827, Scotland was divided again into three vicariates apostolic; the Eastern District (formerly the Lowland District), the Northern District (formerly the Highland District), and the Western District (created from parts of the other two districts)., ''The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, volume 3'', p. 468. On the

restoration of the Scottish hierarchy The re-establishment of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Scotland took effect on 15 March 1878. This followed the restoration of the English hierarchy in 1850. The restoration was carried out on the instructions of Pope Leo XIII and was ...

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

on 15 March 1878, part of the Eastern District was elevated to the status of a metropolitan archdiocese with the title St Andrews and Edinburgh.

List of ordinaries

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Archbishop of St Andrews And Edinburgh Christianity in Edinburgh

History

List of ordinaries

See also

References

Bibliography