On 29 September, the Archdiocese of Liverpool celebrated the 175th anniversary of its establishment.

It was one of 13 new dioceses created by Pope Pius IX’s Papal Bull Universalis Ecclesiae, which saw the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England and Wales following the Reformation period.

Initially, the newly formed diocese was part of the Province of Westminster – it was only when Pope Pius X declared a new province of Liverpool in October 1911 that it was elevated to a metropolitan see.

When it was established, the diocese covered a much larger geographical area that included Lancaster and the Lake District. In 1924, the Diocese of Lancaster was created, which took the area north of the Ribble. The river now acts as the border between the two dioceses.

The first bishop of this new diocese was Bishop George Brown, who had previously been the Vicar Apostolic for Lancashire, which covered most of the same territory.

Archbishop John Sherrington marked the anniversary by celebrating Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in thanksgiving for the mission of the Church. During his homily, Archbishop John paid tribute to Bishop Brown and the foundations he laid for the archdiocese of today.

He said: “Bishop Brown was the bishop from 1850 to 1856. At the time in 1850, there was a huge growth in Liverpool – the expansion of the docks, migration from Ireland had begun in the 1840s and terrible poverty, deprivation and sickness… But schools were to be founded and churches built.

“Bishop Brown was concerned that that education and that place to celebrate the Mass that had been so longed for during the dark years after the Reformation would build up once more.

“He founded the Blind Asylum, the Industrial Lay School, Birkdale Farm School, particularly to give boys an education, and the St Elizabeth’s Institute for training poor girls for service.

“So, responding to the needs of his time and seeing the needs around him to try and help his Catholic population go beyond poverty and flourish.”

Key moments in the history of the Archdiocese of Liverpool

·       In 1880, Bishop Bernard O’Reilly, the third Bishop of the Diocese of Liverpool, was the vision behind St Joseph’s College –a seminary in Upholland, West Lancashire. As well as that, he really developed the diocese, with the establishment of 42 new missions and an increase of up to 40,000 in those receiving sacraments.

·       For a long time, the archdiocese has also had an affiliation with the charity ‘Nugent’, which works predominately in the Liverpool City Region. It was established in 1881 and was the fruits of the labours of Monsignor James Nugent, who worked tirelessly on child welfare, poverty, and social reform in and around the diocese.

·       Moving into the 20^th century, Thomas Whiteside became the first Archbishop of Liverpool, and was the first bishop to come from the new seminary at Upholland, where he had been professor of Dogmatic Theology, then Rector. Since his appointment, there have now been 10 archbishops of Liverpool. Each have had their own challenges to overcome, not just for the Catholic Church, but in wider society as well.

·       The archdiocese has faced many challenging times, including the world wars, the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters, the Toxteth riots and the Covid-19 pandemic. But each of the bishops brought their own gifts, knowledge and collaboration with God’s people to achieve great things for the Catholic population in the archdiocese.

·       Archbishop John Carmel Heenan set the ball rolling for the new Metropolitan Cathedral, which finally was built in 1967. This has seen some significant moments in the history of the diocese – including the papal visit in 1982 when Pope John Paul II came to Liverpool and celebrated a historic Mass in its cathedral. In 2025, this became a Grade I listed building.

In late 2024, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon formally recognised the cure of Jack Traynor in Lourdes 101 years previously as miraculous. The annual pilgrimage to Lourdes is a tradition that continues to this day, 102 years on. We also have the youth pilgrimage to Lourdes, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2026.

As well as the miracle, Archbishop Malcolm also oversaw the archdiocesan synod, before Pope Francis called the Universal Synod. This was four years in the making, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We pray in hope for what the next 175 years will bring.