Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Brieuc

Diocese of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier
Dioecesis Briocensis-Trecorensis
Diocèse de Saint-Brieuc et Tréguier

Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Rennes
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rennes
Statistics
Area 6,867 km2 (2,651 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2014)
591,641
582,000 (98.4%)
Parishes 58
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Roman Rite
Established 5th Century (As Diocese of Saint-Brieuc)
23 January 1852 (As Diocese of Saint-Brieuc - Tréguier
Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of St Stephen in Saint-Brieuc
Patron saint Saint Brioc
Saint William Pinchon
Secular priests 165 (diocesan)
8 (religious orders)
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Denis Moutel
Metropolitan Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas
Emeritus Bishops Lucien Fruchaud Bishop Emeritus (1992-2010)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Brieuc (Lat. Briocensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Côtes d'Armor in the Region of Brittany. The diocese is currently suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rennes. The current bishop is Denis Moutel, appointed in 2010.

Originally erected according to legend in the 5th century, the diocese was suppressed by the French Revolution. Re-established by the Concordat of 1802, the diocese became a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Tours. Later, in 1850, it became suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes. The Diocese of Saint-Brieuc was formed to include: (1) the ancient diocese of the same name; (2) the greater portion of the diocese of Tréguier; (3) a part of the old Diocese of St. Malo, Dol, and Quimper, and the (4) parishes of the Diocese of Vannes. In 1852 the Bishops of Saint-Brieuc were authorized to add to their title that of the ancient See of Tréguier.

History

A Welsh[1] saint, Brioc(us) (Brieuc), who died at the beginning of the sixth century founded in honour of St. Stephen a monastery which afterwards bore his name, and from which sprang the town of Saint-Brieuc. Brieuc's life makes no mention of him being a bishop.[2] An inscription later than the ninth century on his tomb, at Saint-Serge at Angers, where his alleged body was transported in the 850s,[3] mentions him as the first Bishop of Saint-Brieuc. His alleged remains at Saint-Serge were moved to a different tomb in 1166, in the presence of King Henry II of England.[4] His remains were carried back to Saint-Brieuc in 1210.[5]

It was King Nomenoe who, about the middle of the ninth century, is said to have made the monastery the seat of a bishop. Barthélemy Hauréau, however, begins his series of bishops in Gallia christiana with Bishop Adam (ca. 1032).[6]

Among the Bishops of Saint-Brieuc, the following are mentioned: St. Guillaume Pinchon (1220–34), who protected the rights of the episcopate against Pierre Mauclerc, Duke of Brittany, and was forced to go into exile for some time at Poitiers; Jean du Tillet (1553–64), later Bishop of Meaux; Denis de La Barde[7] (1641–75); and Jean-Baptiste de Caffarelli du Falga (1802-15).

The principal pilgrimages in the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc are: Notre-Dame de Bon Secours at Guingamp, the sanctuary of which was enriched by the munificence of the Dukes of Brittany; Notre Dame d'Espérance, at Saint-Brieuc, a pilgrimage dating from 1848; Notre Dame de La Fontaine at Saint-Brieuc, dating from the establishment of an oratory by Saint-Brieuc, and revived in 1893 to encourage devotion to that Saint; Notre Dame de Guyaudet, near St-Nicholas du Pélem; and Notre Dame de LaRonce, at Rostrenen, a church raised to the status of a Collegiate Chruch by Sixtus IV in 1483.

At the end of the eighteenth century, on the eve of the French Revolution, the Cathedral had a Chapter[8] composed of six Dignities: the Dean, the Treasurer, the Archdeacon of Penthièvre, the Archdeacon of Goëlo, the Scholastic, and the Cantor; there were twenty prebends. The first prebend always belonged to the Duc de Penthièvre. There were 113 parish churches, 13 chapels in small villages, 4 Collegiate Churches (one just outside the walls of Saint-Brieuc dedicated to Guillaume Pinchon, the martyr bishop) and four abbeys of male monks.[9]

During the French revolution the diocese of Brieuc was abolished and subsumed into a new diocese, coterminous with the new 'Departement des Côtes-du-Nord', and a suffragan of the 'Metropole du Nord-Ouest' at Rennes.[10] The clergy were required to swear and oath to the Constitution, and under the terms of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy a new bishop was to be elected by all the voters of the departement. This placed them in schism with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. The electors chose Father Jean-Marie Jacob, the curé of Lannebert, as their new Constitutional Bishop. He was consecrated in Nôtre-Dame in Paris by Constitutional Bishop Gobel on 1 May 1791. Gobel, a legitimate bishop, consecrated in 1772, had apostasized and was then Constitutional Bishop of Paris.[11] The legitimate Bishop Bellecize had fled his diocese, leaving its administration in the hands of his vicars-general.[12] 1n 1795 and 1796 Bishop Jacob was part of the movement seeking an accommodation with Rome. He faced great difficulties both from the flight of many of his clergy in the face of the Terror, and from the seizure of large areas of the countryside by the Chouans, who were loyal to the monarchy.[13] Jacob fell ill during a trip to Paris and died there on 28 May 1801. An election was being prepared to elect his successor, when First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte ordered all the Constitutional Bishops to resign. He was striking a Concordat with Pope Pius VII, which included the liquidation of the Constitutional Church.

Bishops of Saint-Brieuc

to 1200

  • Felix, or Garnobrius (in 859)[14]
  • Adam (ca. 1032)
  • Haemon
  • Guillaume
  • Jean
  • Rolland (ca. 1144 – 1147)
  • Geoffroy (subscribed a document in 1149)
  • Joscius (ca. 1150 – 1157): promoted to Tours.
  • Judicael
  • Geoffroy (ca. 1162 – 1202)

1200–1400

  • Joscelin
  • Guillaume
  • Pierre
  • Sylvester
  • Guillaume Pinchon[15] (1220 – 29 July 1234)
  • Philippe[16] ( 1235 – 1248)
  • André ( ca. 1251 – after 1255)
  • Raoul ( 23 February 1257 – 1259 or 1260)[17]
  • Simon ( 1260 – 1271)[18]
  • Pierre de Vannes ( 29 May 1273 – after 1290)[19]
  • Geoffroy ( by 1295 – 1312)[20]
  • Alain ( 8 January 1313 – 1320)
  • Jean d'Avaugour ( 15 February 1320 – 1328): transferred to Dol 27 April 1328[21]
  • Mathieu Ferrandi ( 13 July 1328 – 1328) resigned
  • Radulfus d'Escar (de la Fleche) ( 23 January 1329 – 17 March 1335).
  • Gui de Montfort (1335 – 1357)
  • Hugues de Montelais ( 21 August 1357 – 1375) promoted to the Cardinalate on 20 December 1375[22]
  • Laurent de la Faye ( 2 January 1376 – 6 August 1379) transferred to Avranches)[23]
  • Guillaume Beschard ( 6 August 1379 – 1385) (Avignon Obedience)
  • Guillaume Auger[24] ( 7 June 1385 – 22 March 1404) (Avignon Obedience)

1400 to 1600

  • Jean de Malestroit [Châteaugiron] ( 2 May 1404 – 1419: transferred to Nantes on 17 July 1419)[25]
  • Guillaume Eder ( 15 March 1428 – 1431, died)
  • Hervé Huguet de Boiscrobin ( 29 January 1432 – 1436)
  • Olivier de Tillet[26] ( 4 July 1436 – end of 1438)
  • Jean Privent ( 27 February 1439 – 25 April 1450: Appointed Bishop of Saint-Malo)[27]
  • Jean L'Espervier[28] ( 1439 Appointed - 15 July 1450: Appointed Bishop of Saint-Malo)
  • Jacques Pregent [Pencoel] ( 15 July 1450 – 1471)[29]
  • Pierre de Montfort de Laval ( 19 February 1472 – 8 October 1473: Appointed Archbishop of Reims)[30]
  • Christophe de Penmarc'h ( 14 January 1478 – 17 December 1505)[31]
  • Olivier du Châtel ( 9 March 1506 – 16 May 1525)
  • Jean de Rieux ( 6 September 1525 – 1545)
  • François de Mauny ( 8 June 1545 – 13 September 1553)
  • Jean du Tillet (Appointed 18 September 1553 – 5 August 1564: transferred to Meaux,[32] died 1570)

1600 to 1800

Bishop Denis Moutel

1800 to present

References

  1. ↑ Andrew Mooney (2011), Celtic Saints, St. Brieuc
  2. ↑ Duchesne, p. 390. The Life can be read in: Godefroy Henschen; Daniel van Papenbroeck (1680). Acta Sanctorum Maii (in Latin). Tomus I. Antwerp: apud Michaelem Cnobarum. pp. 91–94.
  3. ↑ Duchesne, p. 390.
  4. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, p. 271.
  5. ↑ Acta Sanctorum p. 94.
  6. ↑ Gallia christiana XIV (1856), p. 1086.
  7. ↑ Princeton University Library, Engraving of Denis de la Barde. Retrieved: 2016-09-02.
  8. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 147-161.
  9. ↑ Gallia christiana XIV, pp. 1085-1086.
  10. ↑ Text of Civil Constitution of the Clergy (in English) Retrieved: 2016-09-02.
  11. ↑ Paul Pisani (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791-1802). (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils. pp. 130–132; 53–58.
  12. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne, I, pp. 69-70.
  13. ↑ M. G. de Kerigant (1882). Les Chouans: épisodes des guerres de l'Ouest dans les Côtes-du-Nord, depuis 1792 jusqu'en 1800 (in French). Yves Salmon.
  14. ↑ Duchesne, p. 391.
  15. ↑ Because of a dispute with Duke Pierre 'Mauclerc', who was systematically attempting to limit the power of the clergy, Bishop Guillaume was forced into exile in Poitiers, 1228-1231. Guimart, pp. 42-49.
  16. ↑ The election of a successor to Guillaume Pinchon first produced Canon Nicholas, the Scholasticus. The election, however, was irregular, and was annulled by the Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Tours. The canons then elected one of themselves, Canon Alain, who was also Treasurer of the Cathedral of Vannes; this too was annulled. Finally the Archbishop appointed Bishop Philippe, who had been a Canon and friend of Guillaume Pinchon. Bishop Philippe died while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1248. Guimart, pp. 51-53. Eubel, I, p. 146.
  17. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, p. 14.
  18. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 14-15.
  19. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 15-16.
  20. ↑ Eubel, I, p. 146. Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 17-20.
  21. ↑ Eubel, I, p. 225.
  22. ↑ Eubel, I, p. 22.
  23. ↑ Eubel, I, p. 66 and 146. Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 28-29.
  24. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 29-30.
  25. ↑ Eubel, I, p. 146 and 356. Jean de Châteaugiron was Chancellor of Bretagne: Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 31-32. He was transferred to Nantes by Pope Martin V.
  26. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, p. 36. Eubel, II, p. 110-111.
  27. ↑ Eubel II, p. 111 and 183.
  28. ↑ Jean L'Espervier also served as Chancellor of Bretagne. He had attended the Council of Basel, for which he was excommunicated, but he was restored by Eugenius IV in 1441 after he abandoned it. Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 36-37.
  29. ↑ Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 37-40.
  30. ↑ Pierre de Montfort de Laval was the son of Guy XIV Comte de Laval and Isabelle of Brittany. After being appointed Archbishop of Reims he retained the diocese of Saint-Brieuc in commendam until 1478: Eubel, II, p. 111.
  31. ↑ Christophe de Penmarc'h and Pierre de Laval had a long-running lawsuit over the appointment of Bishop Christophe, that was only settled by Innocent VIII in 1485, who gave Laval the Diocese of Saint-Malo: Geslin de Bourgogne and Barthelemy, I, pp. 40-41.
  32. ↑ Eubel, III, pp. 140 and 240.
  33. ↑ Guillaume de La Vieuxville-Pourpris (Guillaume is part of his surname: Gaston Louis Michel Marie baron de Carné (1900). Revue historique de l'Ouest (in French). 16. Vannes: Bureaux de la Revue. p. 49.) was Abbot commendatory of the Abbey of S. Maurice from 1681-1727: Gallia christiana XIV (1856), p. 910. He was Dean of the Cathedral Chapter of Nantes from 1699. On 6 July 1721 he was consecrated at the Jacobins in Paris by the Archbishop of Rouen, and the Bishops of Nantes and Tarbes: Mercure français (in French). Paris: Au bureau du Mercure. 1721. p. 113.
  34. ↑ La Romagère had been Canon, Theologian, and Grand Vicar of the diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne before the French Revolution. In 1791 he refused the oath to the Constitution. During the Terror, he retired to the Abbey of Jouarre. At Easter 1793 he was arrested and taken to Bourges, destined for the guillotine. Garaby, Malo-Joseph de (1841). Vie de Mgr Le Groing de La Romagère, évêque... de Saint-Brieuc, suivie d'une notice sur M. Le Mée, son successeur. Saint-Brieuc: Ch. Le Maout. pp. 7–10. (French)
  35. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of Francois-Jean-Marie-Serrand. (French) Retrieved: 2016-09-03
  36. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of Armand Coupel. (French) Retrieved: 2016-09-02
  37. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of François Kervéadou. (French) Retrieved: 2016-09-02.
  38. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of Pierre Kervennic. (French) Retrieved: 2016-09-02.
  39. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of Lucien Fruchaud. (French) Retrieved: 2016-09-02.
  40. ↑ Diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Biography of Denis Moutel.(French) Retrieved: 2016-09-03

Bibliography

Reference works

Studies

Acknowledgment

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Saint-Brieuc". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. 

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