The Archdiocese of Birmingham comprises Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Staffordshire, Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire and those parts of Oxfordshire which belong to the former County of Oxfordshire (north of the Thames).
The Metropolitan See is the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad. There are 282,592 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Birmingham and 278 diocesan priests. The Archdiocese covers an area of 3,836 square miles and is divided into three Pastoral Areas; the Central and Western Pastoral Area, until recently looked after recently by Bishop Pargeter, covering Birmingham, Kidderminster, Worcester; the Northern Pastoral Area, under the care of Bishop David McGough, covering Staffordshire and the Black Country; the Southern Pastoral Area, under the care of Bishop William Kenney, CP, which covers Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.
Predecessors of the Current Archbishop:
Bishops of Birmingham
Bishop William Bernard Ullathorne (1850 – 1888)
Bishop Edward IIsley (1888 – 1911)
Archbishops of Birmingham
Archbishop Edward Ilsley (1911 – 1921)
Archbishop John McIntyre (1921 – 1928)
Archbishop Thomas Williams (1929 – 1946)
Archbishop Joseph Masterson (1947 – 1953)
Archbishop Francis Grimshaw (1954 -1965)
Archbishop George Dwyer (1965 – 1981)
Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville (1982 – 1999)
Archbishop Vincent Nichols (2000 – 2009)
