Pope Francis has approved the merger of two of the three dioceses in Wales.
Archbishop Mark O’Toole announced Sept. 12, the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, that the Diocese of Menevia would be merged with the Archdiocese of Cardiff to form the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.
The dioceses were initially united in persona episcopi (in the person of the bishop) in April 2022, when Pope Francis appointed O’Toole as the Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia.
The merger of the two dioceses leaves just one other diocese in Wales: the Diocese of Wrexham, led by the 71-year-old Bishop Peter Brignall.
In a pastoral letter to be read out in churches in the new united archdiocese on the weekend of Sept. 14-15, O’Toole said: “We are immensely grateful to Pope Francis for this decision and for his inspiring leadership in encouraging us to ‘go outwards’ in mission.”
The 61-year-old archbishop added: “We received this decision more quickly than anticipated, which I believe reflects the confidence the Holy See has in the process we have undertaken.”
In a December 2023 pastoral letter, Archbishop O’Toole urged Catholics in Cardiff and Menevia to consider the possibility of a merger.
“By sharing resources and supporting one another, I believe we can give a more credible witness to Jesus Christ in our society and communicate Him more effectively, both in our own faith and in the good works that we undertake,” he wrote.
He announced “open listening sessions” in both dioceses, to gather feedback on the proposal.
O’Toole took part in 42 meetings, attended by 605 people, according to the archdiocese. A dossier including written submissions was given to the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, who presented it to the Vatican in July.
Catholicism was the dominant religion in Wales until the Protestant Reformation. Today, there are around 200,000 Catholics, representing roughly 7% of the total population of 3.1 million.
Approximately 130,000 Catholics belong to the Cardiff archdiocese, 26,000 to the Menevia diocese, and 34,000 to the Wrexham diocese.
In recent years, the Vatican has shown a preference for uniting dioceses in persona episcopi, rather than merging them.
The country most affected by the practice is Italy, but the trend has spread to other countries with declining Catholic practice, including Canada, Ireland, Spain, and Wales.
Yet the Vatican appears to have paused the approach in Italy, following complaints from local Church leaders.
Since the start of the 2020s, diocesan mergers have occurred in North America and Asia.
In May 2020, Pope Francis merged Canada’s Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall with the Archdiocese of Ottawa, forming the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.
In the same month, the pope merged the U.S. the Diocese of Juneau with the Archdiocese of Anchorage, creating the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.
In August 2023, he merged the Diocese of Takamatsu with the Archdiocese of Osaka, forming the new Archdiocese of Osaka-Takamatsu.
In an October 2022 interview with The Pillar, O’Toole said it was “conceivable” that one day there could be a single Catholic archbishop for Wales.
“But I suppose inevitably, when you see the connection like this [between Menevia and Cardiff], Wrexham is vulnerable in terms of numbers of priests and resources and so on,” he said.
“But the Holy See would have to look carefully, obviously in consultation with ourselves, as to how that might look, because the territory is huge.”
