CATHOLIC DIRECTORY, THE. – Yearbook of the Catholic Church in Great Britain, begun in London in 1838 and regularly published by the editors Burns, Oates, and Washbourne; since 1840, for its official sections, it has carried episcopal approval. It is one of the oldest publications of its kind in the English-speaking world.
Others followed its model in various countries: from 1886, the Official Catholic directory (New York, Kennedy), which includes news and statistics not only for the United States and its dependent territories, but also for Canada, Ireland, England, and Scotland; from 1896, the Irish Catholic directory (Dublin, Duffy); in addition, the Australasian Catholic directory, the Catholic directory of India, and others.