Middlesbrough Diocese

The Diocese consists of the boroughs of Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton on Tees (south of the river), the cities of Kingston upon Hull and York, East Yorkshire and most of North Yorkshire.

The Diocese of Middlesbrough is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese situated in the province of Liverpool. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the re-configuring of the Diocese of Beverley which had covered the whole of Yorkshire. The modern day Middlesbrough diocese covers an area of 4,000 km² in North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, together with the Cities of Kingston-upon-Hull and York.

The Diocese of Beverley, which covered the whole of Yorkshire, was divided into the Diocese of Middlesbrough, covering the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire and those parishes in the City of York to the north of the River Ouse, and the Diocese of Leeds, covering the West Riding of Yorkshire and those parishes in the City of York to the south of the River Ouse. In 1982 the two York parishes south of the River Ouse were ceded to the Diocese of Middlesbrough to unite the City of York under one bishop. The parish of Howden was transferred from Middlesbrough to the Leeds diocese in 2004.

The Bishop of Middlesbrough is Rt Rev Terence Patrick Drainey. He was ordained as the 7th Bishop of Middlesbrough on 25 January 2008, replacing the Right Reverend John Patrick Crowley.

Diocesan Patrons

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Our Lady of Perpetual Help was adopted as our Diocesan patroness by Bishop Lacy, the first Bishop of Middlesbrough, who had seen the miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rome whilst he was a seminarian.

The miraculous image is kept in the Church of Saint Alponsus Ligouri in Rome.

The feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is on 27th June.

Saint Wilfrid of York

Saint Wilfrid, who was Bishop of York from 664 until his death in 709, was the successful advocate for the Roman viewpoint at the Synod of Whitby, the Anglo-Saxon Church Council which decided the method for determining the date of Easter.

The feast of Saint Wilfrid is on 12th October.

Saint John of Beverley

Saint John of Beverley studied at Canterbury under Saints Adrian and Theodore before becoming a monk at Whitby. In 687 he became Bishop of Hexham and then, in 705, Metropolitan of York. We know much about Saint John of Beverley because it was he who ordained the first English historian, the Venerable Bede who wrote of him, and recorded miracles worked by him. Saint John founded the Beverley Abbey to which he retired in 717. He died in 721.

Saint John’s tomb became a focus for pilgrimages in medieval times and King Henry V’s victory at Agincourt was attributed to the aid of Saint John and Saint John of Bridlington.