The 'Bishop of Coventry' is the
Ordinary of the
England Diocese of Coventry in the
Province of Canterbury. In the
Middle Ages, the
Bishop of
Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the
Bishop of Lichfield.
The present diocese covers most of the County of
Warwickshire. The
see is in the
City of Coventry where the seat is located at the
Cathedral Church of Saint Michael. The Bishop's residence is The Bishop's House, Coventry.
History
From
1102 to
1238, the former
Benedictine priory in the city was the seat of the early Bishops of Coventry (previously known as
Bishops of Chester or
of Lichfield). It was, afterwards, one of the two seats of the 'Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield' until the
Reformation of the
1530s when Coventry Cathedral was demolished and the bishop's seat moved to
Lichfield, though the title remained as 'Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry' until
1837, when Coventry was united with the
Diocese of Worcester.
The present diocese was founded in
1918 under
King George V when the parish church of Saint Michael was elevated to cathedral status. The cathedral suffered under fire-bombing by the
Luftwaffe on the night of
14 November 1940 and remains today as a dignified ruin adjacent to the new cathedral building consecrated on
25 May 1962. The current bishop is the Right Reverend
'Colin' James 'Bennetts', the 8th 'Lord Bishop of Coventry', who signs ''Colin Coventry''.
See also
★
List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Lichfield and its precursor offices
★
List of bishops of the modern diocese of Coventry