Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

IDENTITY

Name

CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF ENGLAND AND WALES

Identifier

GB3280

CONTACT

Address

39 Eccleston Square
London
SW1V 1BX

Telephone

0207  630 8220

 

 

Website

www.catholicchurch.org.uk

 

DESCRIPTION

Institutional context

The holdings of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference accessible through Catholic Heritage are the archives of the General Secretariat. These contain official publications, Conference Acta, department reports, minutes of meetings, and financial records. Please note that as a private archive the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales imposes a 30 year closure period on its records and therefore whilst an item may be described in the catalogue, physical access may not be granted.

 

Administrative structure

The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is the permanent assembly of Catholic bishops in these two countries. It is funded by a levy from each diocese.

All the Bishops of England and Wales meet together twice a year to decide policies for the Church at a national level. Each bishop chairs a committee of experts dealing with a specific area of concern for the Church. Committees are grouped into departments for practical purposes.  Agencies and Offices of the Catholic  Bishops Conference are organisations established by and answerable to the Bishops’ Conference and carrying out administrative functions in its name. The General Secretariat based at 39 Eccleston Square, London co-ordinates and supervises the Bishops' Conference administration activities.

Collecting policy

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference archive only contains records generated by its departments and committees and their various members. It will occasionally assume administrative and legal responsibility for the archives of former offices and agencies. It does not actively collect records relating to external organisations.

Buildings

The archive is housed in 39 Eccleston Square. There are no reading room or public facilities available.

Archival and other holdings

Pre-1984 archive material consists of papers of meetings of the Hierarchy of England and Wales and official Acta.

The archives of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales pre-1984 are housed at Westminster Diocesan Archives, whilst the post 1984 material is housed at Eccleston Square. The archives are still very much a work in progress, having had no professional archivist responsible for their care prior to 2006.

 

ACCESS

Closed

    

CONTROL

Date of creation

Updated 17 May 2016