The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface in Plymouth, England, is the seat of the Bishop of Plymouth and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. Created in 1850 after the issuing of the papal bull, Universalis Ecclesiae, Plymouth Diocese covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. Although Exeter had its own historical precedent, and, prior to the Reformation, Exeter Cathedral was the seat of the bishop, Plymouth was nominated as the centre for the Cathedral because there were more Catholics in the town than in Exeter. Furthermore, a new law in fact prevented any restored Catholic Diocese from using the same title that was already being used by a Church of England Diocese; thus the newly formed Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth came into existence and, in 1858 the new condign cathedral was opened and put under the patronage of Virgin Mary and Saint Boniface, the latter being born in Crediton in the area of the diocese.