Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Down and Connor

Dunen(sis) et Connoren(sis)

Latin-rite diocese in Northern Ireland covering counties Antrim, Down, and part of Londonderry, formed by the union of the ancient sees of Down and Connor in 1453. Suffragan of the Archdiocese of Armagh, with its seat at St. Peter's Cathedral in Belfast. Bishop Alan McGuckian, S.J., was appointed in 2024.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1453
Latin
Dunen(sis) et Connoren(sis)
Patron
St. Malachy and St. MacNissi
Annuario code
001001321

The see in figures

Catholics
402,470
Population
977,600
Catholic share
41.2%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
176
Catholics per priest
2,287
Extent
2,419 km²
Catholics per km²
166

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Alan McGuckian, S.J.
Born
26 February 1953
Birthplace
Ballymena
Institute
COMPAGNIA DI GESÙ (GESUITI) (S.I.)

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast stands in Down and Connor, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Armagh

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Armagh.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].