The Catholic Church in Wales

The Catholic Church in Wales is divided into three dioceses; the Diocese of Wrexham, the Diocese of Menevia and the Archdiocese of Cardiff. Together they are referred to as the Catholic Provence of Cardiff and have an estimated Catholic population of 208,146.

The Diocese of Wrexham consists of the 6 Counties of North Wales and the district of Montgomery in the County of Powys in Mid-Wales. It has a Catholic population of 37,050.

The Diocese of Menevia covers Swansea, Carmarthen, Llandrindod wells, Haverfordwest and Port Talbot. It has a Catholic population of over 27,096

The Archdiocese of Cardiff has eight deaneries covering Cardiff, the Welsh valleys, Bridgend, Hereford, Newport, North Gwent and Pontypridd. It has a Catholic population of over 144,000.

 Catholic Schools in Wales

The Catholic Church is one of the oldest providers of education in Wales. Together with the Church in Wales, they are the only providers of denominational education in the country.

There are 84 state maintained Catholic schools in Wales (all Voluntary Aided) educating 8,000 pupils and employing more than 2,600 members of staff.

This includes 68 Catholic piamry schools, 15 Catholic secondary schools and one Catholic sixth form college. 

Welsh Catholic schools are some of the most ethnically and religiously diverse in the country - just under half of pupils in Welsh Catholic schools not Catholic.

Catholic schools remain extremely popular with parents of all faiths and none and therefore expand parental choice in education for Welsh families.

Click the links to find out more about Religious Education, Relationship and Sex Education, and Collective Worship in Welsh Catholic schools

 Latest News from Welsh Catholic Schools

19 October 2020: Welsh Government risks ‘losing the trust of the Catholic community’, CES tells Senedd 

03 July 2020: Welsh Catholic school heads unite to oppose RE changes

22 May 2020: Message from the Rt Rev Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and Chairman of the Catholic Education Service

22 January 2020: Catholic Education Service Criticises Welsh Government RSE Announcement

Campaigns

Stop the Welsh Government revoking parents' rights as the primary educators of their children. It is important that sensitive subjects like Relationship and Sex Education and Religious Education are taught in accordance with parents' views. Removing the rights of parents' to withdraw their children from these subjects will undermine their role as parents.
If you are concerned then please write to you local and regional MSs by clicking HERE to access our quick and easy sample letter generator. All you need to do is enter your name and address and click submit.

Welsh Lanuage prayer resources

Sign of the Cross/Yn enw'r Tad	Our Father/Ein Tad	Hail Mary/Henffych well, Mair	Glory Be/Gogoniant i'r Tad

St Richard Gwyn

St Richard Gwyn was one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. Born in Montgomeryshire, he was a schoolteacher in Wrexham and is also believed to be one of a handful of Martyrs who was a fluent Welsh speaker. He is the Patron Saint of teachers in Wales

His feast day is the 16th October and is an occasion where Catholic schools across Wales celebrate their members of staff. 

More information about St Richard Gwyn can be found by clicking here