The Diocese of Leeds

The territory of the Leeds Diocese now covers parts of five counties; it comprises the Catholic communities in the northern part of what is now West Yorkshire together with some areas of  North and East Yorkshire, e.g. Ripon, Selby and Howden – and some parishes now in Lancashire (Barnoldswick) and Greater Manchester (Uppermill).

Within the Diocese about 26,000 Catholics attend Mass on any particular Sunday and during the last year, some 2,214 children were baptised into the Church.

In addition to more than 100 churches in its parishes, there are also 93 schools, both primary and secondary, a sixth-form college, the country’s only Catholic special school for the deaf and one of only three UK universities with a modern Catholic foundation. The Diocese is presided over by the Bishop of Leeds, whose residence and administrative offices are in Headingley.

Our Bishop is the Right Reverend Marcus Nigel Stock, MA, STL, Tenth Bishop of Leeds. Bishop Marcus Stock was on born on 27 August 1961. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford where he studied theology at Keble College. With a passion for education, Bishop Marcus has been a teacher and a Director of Schools.

St. John Fisher serves many parishes across the Diocese of Leeds and while it would be impossible to list all of them, these are where the majority of our students come from. 

St Wilfrids, Ripon

St Robert’s, Harrogate 

St Aelred, Harrogate (served by St Robert’s) 

St Joseph’s, Harrogate  

St Mary’s, Knaresborough

St Joseph’s, Wetherby

St Edward’s, Clifford (also serves St Joseph’s Tadcaster)

Our Lady Immaculate, Pateley Bridge (also serves St Joseph’s Bishop Thornton)

St Joseph the worker, Sherburn in Elmet (also serves Immaculate Conception Scarthingwell)