of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway in the Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. The diocese was resurrected on 4 March 1878 from the Vicariate Apostolic of the Western District. The church of Saint Andrew in Dumfries served as pro-cathedral until it was destroyed by a fire in May 1961 and the seat moved to Ayr in 1962. The current bishop, appointed 2014, is the Right Reverend William Nolan the 8th Bishop of Galloway. The diocese covers an area of 9,332 km². The see is in the Ecclesiastical City of Ayr. Until 2007 the seat was located at the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd which was built in 1957. In early 2007 Pope Benedict XVI accepted the petition of Right Reverend John Cunningham, the 7th Bishop of Galloway, to move the seat to St Margaret's Church, Ayr. After this took place, the Church of the Good Shepherd was closed and largely demolished. (Any dates appearing in italics indicate de facto continuation of office. The start date of tenure below is the date of appointment or succession. Where known, the date of installation and ordination as bishop are listed in the notes together with the post held prior to appointment.) See also Prior of Whithorn Notes References Clancy, T. O. "The real St Ninian," in The Innes Review, 52 (2001) Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) Hudson, Benjamin T., "Kings and Church in Early Scotland", in The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 73, (October, 1994), pp. 145–70 Oram, Richard, The Lordship of Galloway, (Edinburgh, 2000) Bishops of Galloway