Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor
The Diocese of Down and Connor, () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Armagh. The present bishop is Noel Treanor. Territorial remit. The territorial remit of the diocese includes much of counties Antrim and Down, including the cities of Belfast and Lisburn and the large towns Antrim, Ballymena, Bangor, Carrickfergus, Downpatrick, Holywood, Larne and Newtownards. The population of the diocese is about one million, of which approximately 30% are  Roman Catholic with Sunday mass attendance estimated at 20%. There are currently 88 parishes and ministries in the diocese served by fewer than 100 priests, though the significance of individual parishes has been overtaken by the development of 'pastoral communities'. The diocese is Ireland's second largest in terms of population (after the Archdiocese of Dublin). History. St Fergus (died 583) is named as first Bishop of Down. The Diocese of Connor was founded in 480 by St Macnissi, and St Malachy was bishop there (1124). The dioceses of Down and Connor were permanently joined in 1439. In 1670, as  an effect of the Reformation, wars, and penal laws, in the whole of Down and Connor there were only 2,500 Catholic families. When at length the pressure of penal legislation was removed Catholicism revived rapidly. In the period 1810–1840, a period of relaxation of the penal laws culminating in Catholic Emancipation, an estimated forty new churches were built. The progress thus made under Dr Crolly (1825–1835) and Dr Denvir (1835–65) was continued, as Belfast expanded as a city, under Dr Dorrian (1865–86) and Dr MacAlister (1886–95) and Dr Henry (1895–1908). Current episcopate. Noel Treanor is the 32nd Bishop of Down  and Connor. He was ordained to the episcopate and installed as Bishop of Down and Connor on 29 June 2008. Priests in Down and Connor serve in parish ministry, school chaplaincy, hospital chaplaincy, youth work, prison chaplaincy, teacher training colleges and teach in post-primary schools. At the Diocesan Congress in 2013 Bishop Treanor launched a review to ensure pastoral activities within the diocese matched current resources. To that end a review of pastoral structures was initiated which drew on the 2011 census. Draft new pastoral communities were presented to the clergy in three meetings and then to the lay  faithful. Significantly influencing the structures for the future was a regular practice rate across the diocese of 20% which suggested a greater sharing of personnel, skills and finances. In October 2018, Bishop Treanor ordained the first permanent deacons for service in the diocese. Diocesan statistics. City parishes. Listed are city parishes listed by the Diocese of Down and Connor. Country parishes. Listed are country parishes listed by the Diocese of Down and Connor. Section::::"Ad limina" visit 2006. Bishop Patrick Walsh, Bishop Anthony Farquhar and Bishop Donal McKeown met with Pope Benedict XVI on the first morning of their visit. They  spoke with the Pope for 20 minutes privately in which they discussed things like education, child sexual abuse, peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Section::::"Ad limina" visit 2017. Bishop Treanor joined other Irish bishops in February 2017 for the "ad limina" visit. Unlike previous visits there were no private meetings with diocesan bishops and Pope Francis, rather the Pontiff spoke with the bishops together. Previous bishops. Ordinaries The following is a basic list of the Roman Catholic bishops and vicars apostolic. Auxiliary bishops