Hierarchy Restored in England, 1850

On this day in 1850, Pope Blessed Pius IX issued the bull Universalis Ecclesiae, which reestablished the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England. Since the dioceses had been handed over to the Anglican Church during the Reformation, England had no Roman Catholic dioceses. From the 1500’s through 1850, Vicars Apostolic governed England’s Catholic community. In 1850, Pope Pius reestablished dioceses in England, but rather than giving them the old names (e.g., Canterbury), new names were given. So the primatial see became Westminster rather than Canterbury, and Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman (seen above) was named first primate of England. (The primate is the highest ranling bishop in a country; it’s a title that was never introduced to the United States.) For more on this event, and the reactions it promoted, see here.