Clifton in December 1974 and guided the diocese for the next 27 years. He then retired to Weston-super-Mare as parish priest at St Joseph's. In March 2001, Bishop Declan Lang was ordained as the eighth Bishop of Clifton. Bishops Ordinaries The current bishop is the Right Reverend Declan Lang, who was born on 15 April 1950 in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Ordained in 1975, he was a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, serving as Vicar General from 1996. He was appointed the ninth Bishop of Clifton by Pope John Paul II on 27 February 2001. Vicars Apostolic of Western District Michael Ellis, O.S.B. (1688-1705); later appointed Bishop of Segni, Italy Andrew Giffard (1705); did not take effect Matthew Pritchard, O.F.M. Rec. (1713-1750) Laurence York, O.S.B. (1750-1763) Charles Walmesley, O.S.B. (1763-1797) William Gregory Sharrock, O.S.B. (1797-1809) Peter Bernardine Collingridge, O.F.M. Rec. (1809-1829) Peter Augustine Baines, O.S.B. (1829-1843) Charles Michael Baggs (1844-1845) William Bernard Ullathorne, O.S.B. (1846-1848), appointed Vicar Apostolic of Central District Joseph William Hendren, O.F.M. Rec. (1848-1850); see below Bishops of Clifton See also Bishop of Clifton. Joseph William Hendren, O.F.M. Rec. (1850-1851), appointed Bishop of Nottingham; see above Thomas Lawrence Burgess, O.S.B. (1851-1854) William Joseph Hugh Clifford (1857-1893) William Robert Bernard Brownlow (1894-1901) George Crompton Ambrose Burton (1902-1931) William Lee (1931-1948) Joseph Edward Rudderham (1949-1974) Mervyn Alban Alexander (1974-2001) Declan Ronan Lang (2001- ) Coadjutor Vicars Apostolic Peter Augustine Baines, O.S.B. (1823-1829) Peter Bernardine Collingridge, O.F.M. Rec. (1807-1809) Charles Francis McDonnel, O.F.M. Rec. (1816), did not take effect James Jerome Sharrock, O.S.B. (1806), did not take effect William Gregory Sharrock, O.S.B. (1779-1797) Charles Walmesley, O.S.B. (1756-1763) Laurence York, O.S.B. (1741-1750) Auxiliary bishop Mervyn Alban Alexander (1972-1974), appointed Bishop here Other priests of this diocese who became bishops Francis Edward Joseph Grimshaw, appointed Bishop of Plymouth in 1947 Roger Francis Crispian Hollis, appointed auxiliary bishop of Birmingham in 1987 Michael Joseph Lawrence McGrath, appointed Bishop of Menevia, Wales in 1935 William Vaughan, appointed Bishop of Plymouth in 1855 References External links Clifton Diocese Religious organizations established in 1850 Christianity in Bristol Religion in Gloucestershire Religion in Somerset Religion in Wiltshire Religious organizations established in 1688 Pope Pius IX Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century Clifton, Bristol 1850 establishments in England 1688 establishments in England Clifton