WESTMINSTER, ARCHDIOCESE of. — An archdiocese with its see in London, England, created in 1850. It comprises the counties of London north of the Thames, Middlesex, and Hertfordshire.
It has an area of 221,284 sq. m., with a population of 4,500,000, of whom 345,000 are Catholics, distributed among 164 parishes served by 435 diocesan priests and 311 religious priests; the Seminary of S. Edmondo is at Old Hall Green near Ware. It has 60 male and 167 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 453); in 1951 there were 1,335 conversions. It succeeded the apostolic vicariate of the London district. Since 1943 the archbishop has been Cardinal Bernard Griffin (made a cardinal in 1946), whose predecessors were Nicholas Wiseman (1850–65), Henry Manning (1865–92), Herbert Vaughan (1892–1903), Francis Bourne (1903–35), and Arthur Hinsley (1935–43), all cardinals. The present archbishop is assisted by his coadjutor, Msgr. Edward Myers, titular archbishop of Beroea, and by the auxiliary bishop, Msgr. George Craven.
From 1850 until 1917 W. included the county of Esse, which later became the diocese of Brentwood. Its suffragan dioceses are Brentwood, Northampton, Nottingham, Portsmouth, and Southwark.
Wiseman (v.) founded many churches and schools and introduced popular devotions; his illustrious successor, Cardinal H. E. Manning (v.), continued this progress. VAUGHAN, HERBERT (v.) erected the magnificent cathedral of W. and founded the Crusade of Rescue against renewed attempts at proselytism. BOURNE, FRANCIS (v.) was able, in 1910, to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the English hierarchy (1850–1910); Cardinal A. Hinsley encouraged the courage of the faithful and of the entire nation during the Second World War and became a characteristic figure of England. He promoted parish and dio-
cesan missions. Cardinal Griffin celebrated the centenary of the restoration of the hierarchy in England at Wembley (1950) and inaugurated the Rosary Crusade in 1950–52.
W. contains the convent of Tyburn, where the English martyrs are especially venerated, and is a centre of many national Catholic activities, such as the Apostolate of the Sea, the Catholic Evidence Guild, Catholic Parents' Association, Catholic Education Council, Catholic Social Guild, Catholic Record Society, Catholic Women's League, The Society of St. John Crysostom, Pontifical Court Club, and many others. The principal Catholic magazines and newspapers are published in the archdiocese, such as the Dublin Review, Month, Clergy Review, Universe, Catholic Times, and Catholic Herald.
Among the ancient churches, that of S. Etheldreda, Ely Place, Holborn, was reacquired for the Catholic faith and has been, since 1876, the church of the Rosminian Fathers. Among the modern churches are, for example, those of Farm Street (Jesuits); Haverstock Hill (Dominicans); St. Mary's (Chelsea); S. Ignazio at Stamford Hill; The Holy Road at Watford; the Oratory, Brompton Road (Oratorians); St. Joseph, Highgate (Passionists). The cathedral of W. (1895–1903) is an outstanding architectural work.
Enrico E. G. Rope
THE ABBEY OF W. — It is situated north of the Thames; its first mention appears in a document of King Offa dated 785, in which the monastery is so designated in order to distinguish it from that of St. Paul situated to the east. A legend, probably originating in the thirteenth century, attributed its foundation to the Saxon king Seberto, who was said to have dedicated it to St. Peter. After the primitive buildings had been demolished, King Edward the Confessor began the reconstruction of the choir and transept in 1055; the consecration took place in 1065. The nave was built between 1110 and 1163; the Lady Chapel was consecrated in 1220. In 1245 King Henry III began a new building; the choir and transept were completed in 1258, but a fire also devastated the monastery, which was partly rebuilt during the time of Abbot Lityington between 1362 and 1386, together with part of the nave. In 1502 King Henry VII began the Lady Chapel; the nave was completed in 1517; it is a model of English Gothic. In 1540 the abbey became the seat of the Protestant Church. Inside are several tombs executed by Roman marble workers, namely the one believed to be that of the daughter of Henry III, between the chapels of St. Edmund and St. Benedict; in the ambulatory of the apse, the monument of Henry III (d. 1273); in the chapel of St. Edward is the sarcophagus of Edward III the Confessor, the work of the marble worker Pietro, brought from Rome to England by Abbot Ware in 1258. Around it, the pavement is in opus alexandrinum, executed by a “magister Odericus.” The abbots of the monastery of W. belonged by right to the Lords; among them are remembered Crispino Gilbert (ca. 1084–1117); Riccardo Ware (1258–84): from his time dates the consuetudinarium (ed. by E. M. Thompson, London 1904); Simone di Langham (1349–62), later bishop of Ely, then archbishop of Canterbury, and finally bishop of Palestrina (d. 1376). The monastery was suppressed in 1539 and the monks dispersed.