SALFORD, DIOCESE OF. — In England. It comprises the Hundreds of Salford and Blackburn in the county of Lancashire. It has a population of 2,711,215, of whom about 375,000 are Catholics distributed in 162 parishes, served by 422 diocesan priests and 106 religious; it has a seminary, 19 male and 46 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 347).
Besides the great Jesuit College at Stonyhurst, there are 175 public schools, 3 boys' secondary schools and 15 girls', 2 hospitals, etc.
Before the Reformation this region belonged to the
diocese of Lichfield and then to that of Chester from 1553 to 1559. From 1668 to 1840 it was a "Northern District," while from 1840-50 it was part of the Lancashire district, which had resisted the change of religion; indeed, those who had yielded during the time of Elizabeth, to avoid fines and other penalties, later recanted, especially through the work of Dr. Allen, later a cardinal. This diocese gave the following martyrs to the Church: the blessed T. Cottam (1582), J. Nutter (1584), W. Marsden (1586), R. Hurst (1628), A. Barlow (1641), J. Southworth (1654), and the venerable W. Thomson (1586), E. Osbaldeston (1594), J. Thules (1616), J. Woodcock and T. Whitaker (1646). Also to be noted is J. Paslew, the last abbot of Whalley, hanged in 1537, the priest W. Hans who died from suffering (1644), and the martyr of Chaigley near Stonyhurst, whose identity is uncertain, traditionally Philip Holden, butchered at the altar by Cromwellians in 1648.
The confessor Laurence Vaux, author of the excellent Catechism (1583), died in prison in 1585. Other notable confessors were J. Townley, who suffered many years in prison, E. Rishton, translator and continuator of Nicholas Sanders' De Schismate Anglicano, d. 1585; the Jesuit Laurence Anderton, apologist, and Anselm Beech (Dom Anselm of Manchester), who founded the English Benedictine monastery at Douai. Many families remained faithful, such as the de Trafford, Townley, Holden, Southworth, and maintained secret chapels during the persecutions, such as Stonyhurst, Leagram, Samlesbury, Trafford and others. In 1687 the first vicar apostolic, J. Leyburn, confirmed many of the faithful. In 1773 churches were opened at Blackburn and in 1774 at Manchester. In some places there were anti-Catholic riots in 1850 and 1867, but generally the Church lived in peace after emancipation. The diocese was restored on 29 September 1850; since then the bishops have been: Mgr. W. Turner (1851-72), H. Vaughan, later cardinal (1872-92), J. Bilsborough (1892-1903), L. Ch. Casartelli (1903-25); Th. Henshaw (1925-38) and since 1939 H. V. Marshall.
The diocese is a suffragan of Liverpool. In 1873 it was consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Its patrons are Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph and St. Augustine, Apostle of England. Noteworthy is the annual procession on the Friday after Pentecost in Manchester, a magnificent manifestation of living faith.
Besides the fine ruins of Whalley Abbey, among the ancient churches are those of Ribchester, Whalley (with Anglo-Saxon crosses in the cemeteries) and Manchester (now a Protestant cathedral); among modern Catholic churches are Pleasington, Stonyhurst and the cathedral of S.