The Archbishop of Cardiff–Menevia is the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Cardiff–Menevia.
The position came about after the merger of the Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia in 2024, after the positions of bishops of those dioceses were held by the same person, Mark O'Toole. The archdiocese covers an area of 10,899 square miles (28,230 km2) and spans the historic county of Herefordshire and all of South Wales. The metropolitan see of the previous archdiocese was in the city of Cardiff where the archbishop's seat was located at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David and the seat of the Diocese of Menevia was in St Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea.
With the exception of the second archbishop, Francis Mostyn, born in Flintshire and of local descent, the Welsh connections of the archbishops and bishops have been extremely weak. Ireland, London and the English provinces have supplied a majority.
The see is currently held by Mark O'Toole, the 1st Archbishop of Cardiff–Menevia. He was originally the 8th and last Archbishop of Cardiff and 12th and last Bishop of Menevia, who was appointed by the Holy See on 27 April 2022 and installed at St David's Cathedral, Cardiff on 20 June and St Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea on 23 June 2022.
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History
The Vicariate Apostolic of the Welsh District was created out of the Western District of England and Wales in 1840. The Welsh District covered all of the principality of Wales and the English county of Herefordshire. On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850, the Welsh District was divided. The southern half became the Diocese of Newport and Menevia and the northern half became part of the Diocese of Shrewsbury. In 1895, the diocese lost territory on the creation of the Vicariate Apostolic of Wales, which became the diocese of Menevia in 1898. As a result, the see changed its name to simply the diocese of Newport. Following further reorganisation of the Catholic Church in Wales in 1916, the diocese of Newport was elevated to an ecclesiastical province and changed its name to the archdiocese of Cardiff. The archbishop has jurisdiction over the bishops of Menevia and Wrexham.
The Diocese of Menevia was merged into the Archdiocese of Cardiff, to become the Archdiocese of Cardiff–Menevia in 2024.
Office holders
Bishops of Newport and Menevia
In 1895, the episcopal title became simply the Bishop of Newport.