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Diocese of Northampton
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Diocese of Northampton
The Diocese of Northampton (Latin: Dioecesis Northantoniensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and Wales and suffragan of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the mother church of the Diocese.
The diocese now covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire under their pre-1974 historic boundaries. Until 1976, the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were also included; since then they have formed the Diocese of East Anglia.
When Augustine of Canterbury came from Rome in 597 he concentrated on the areas of Kent and Essex, but thirty years later the area that the Northampton Diocese covers finally received the Christian message, with the arrival of the missionary Birinus and the foundation of his see at Dorchester-on-Thames in 636. Nevertheless, the real evangelisation of the people who dwelt in the diocese was achieved through the labours and missionaries of the isle of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast. Notable amongst them was Chad of Mercia, whose see, established at Lichfield in 669, included the present diocese of Northampton.
From the time of the Reformation until 1850, Catholic dioceses ceased to exist in Britain. However, in 1688 England was divided into four Apostolic vicariates, with Northampton under the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District. In 1840, the Apostolic Vicariate of the Eastern District was created out of the Midland District. On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX on 29 September 1850, most of the Eastern District became the Diocese of Northampton. Its first bishop was William Wareing, previously Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District.
On 13 March 1976, by decree Quod Ecumenicum, Pope Paul VI formed the Diocese of East Anglia for the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk by detaching these counties from the Diocese of Northampton.
The motto under the shield translates as 'Beneath Thy Protection'. On the shield are lilies and choughs, which are symbols of the two patrons of the diocese, and of the cathedral, Blessed Virgin Mary and Thomas of Canterbury.
Bishop Patrick Leo McCartie was a bishop emeritus of Northampton, having retired on 29 March 2001 after serving the diocese for 11 years. He was succeeded by bishop Kevin John Patrick McDonald, who went on to be appointed Archbishop of Southwark on 6 November 2003. Bishop McCartie died on 22 April 2020.
The next Bishop of Northampton was Peter John Haworth Doyle, born on 3 May 1944 at Wilpshire, near Blackburn in Lancashire. He retired on 8 January 2020, with David James Oakley being appointed at that time as successor.
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Diocese of Northampton
The Diocese of Northampton (Latin: Dioecesis Northantoniensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and Wales and suffragan of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the mother church of the Diocese.
The diocese now covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire under their pre-1974 historic boundaries. Until 1976, the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were also included; since then they have formed the Diocese of East Anglia.
When Augustine of Canterbury came from Rome in 597 he concentrated on the areas of Kent and Essex, but thirty years later the area that the Northampton Diocese covers finally received the Christian message, with the arrival of the missionary Birinus and the foundation of his see at Dorchester-on-Thames in 636. Nevertheless, the real evangelisation of the people who dwelt in the diocese was achieved through the labours and missionaries of the isle of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast. Notable amongst them was Chad of Mercia, whose see, established at Lichfield in 669, included the present diocese of Northampton.
From the time of the Reformation until 1850, Catholic dioceses ceased to exist in Britain. However, in 1688 England was divided into four Apostolic vicariates, with Northampton under the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District. In 1840, the Apostolic Vicariate of the Eastern District was created out of the Midland District. On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX on 29 September 1850, most of the Eastern District became the Diocese of Northampton. Its first bishop was William Wareing, previously Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District.
On 13 March 1976, by decree Quod Ecumenicum, Pope Paul VI formed the Diocese of East Anglia for the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk by detaching these counties from the Diocese of Northampton.
The motto under the shield translates as 'Beneath Thy Protection'. On the shield are lilies and choughs, which are symbols of the two patrons of the diocese, and of the cathedral, Blessed Virgin Mary and Thomas of Canterbury.
Bishop Patrick Leo McCartie was a bishop emeritus of Northampton, having retired on 29 March 2001 after serving the diocese for 11 years. He was succeeded by bishop Kevin John Patrick McDonald, who went on to be appointed Archbishop of Southwark on 6 November 2003. Bishop McCartie died on 22 April 2020.
The next Bishop of Northampton was Peter John Haworth Doyle, born on 3 May 1944 at Wilpshire, near Blackburn in Lancashire. He retired on 8 January 2020, with David James Oakley being appointed at that time as successor.
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