LONDON, 3 (NE) With different activities and celebrations, the Catholic Church in England and Wales will celebrate tomorrow, May 4, the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in both countries. The anniversary will be marked by two events in London to take place this Thursday. As it was announced, Mass will take place at Westminster Cathedral at 2.30pm, and Vespers will be celebrated at St George's Cathedral on the evening.

    On 29 September 1850, Pope Pius IX, with the Bull "Universalis Ecclesiae" reconstituted the structure of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, establishing 13 dioceses, each with a Bishop. From 1688 to 1840, there had been 4 districts, and from 1840 to 1850, 8 districts, each governed by a Vicar Apostolic. Since 1850, the number of dioceses has increased to 22.

    The choice of churches where celebrations will take place this year is historically significant. St George's Cathedral was where Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, England and Wales's first new Metropolitan Archbishop since the protestant revolt, was installed in 1850. Westminster Cathedral was built in 1895 and became the cathedral of the Archbishops of Westminster. After Pope Pius IX reform, Westminster became the metropolitan see and its occupant the lawful successor of the Catholic archbishops of Canterbury.