The history of the diocese of St Davids is traditionally traced to that saint (Dewi) in the latter half of the 6th century. Records of the history of the diocese before Norman times are very fragmentary, however, consisting of a few chance references in old chronicles, such as Annales Cambriae and Brut y Tywysogion (Rolls Series).
4 September 1860: Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire, the cathedral priory of the Diocese of Newport and Menevia is consecrated.[5]
4 July 1895: The Diocese of Newport and Menevia splits. Glamorgan, Monmouth and Herefordshire become the Diocese of Newport. The rest of Wales, including North Wales from the Diocese of Shrewsbury, becomes the Apostolic Vicariate of Wales.[6]
12 May 1898: The Apostolic Vicariate of Wales become the Diocese of Menevia with Wrexham Cathedral as its pro-cathedral.[6]
7 February 1916: The Diocese of Newport becomes the Archdiocese of Cardiff and it is decided that St David's church in Cardiff would become its cathedral.[6]
12 February 1987: The Diocese of Menevia is split. The north becomes the Diocese of Wrexham with its cathedral remaining in Wrexham. The south remains the Diocese of Menevia and sets up Swansea Cathedral.[6]
12 September 2024: Pope Francis creates the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia by merging the Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia.[7]
Details
In 2007, there were 27,561 Catholics in the diocese which was served by 34 diocesan priests, 19 religious priests, 9 non-ordained male religious and 100 female religious. There are 34 Catholic educational institutions in the diocese,[8] including three secondary schools:
St Joseph's Catholic School and Sixth-Form Centre, Port Talbot
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