List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of France
The following is the list of the Roman Catholic dioceses of France since 2002. See also the List of Ancien Régime dioceses of France and the List of French dioceses in the 19th and 20th century for information prior to 2002.
Pope John Paul II completely redrew the map of French ecclesiastical provinces in December 2002, in order to coincide more closely with the map of French administrative regions, but losing in several instances remaining boundaries surviving from late Roman times. This meant the creation of a few new Metropolitan archbishoprics and ecclesiastical provinces. This also entailed, for several archbishoprics, the loss of their metropolitan status (symbolised by the wearing of the pallium): their bishops nevertheless retained the title of archbishop.
As a result of history, many former episcopal sees were united, mainly as a consequence of the French Revolution; hence many dioceses bear the names of several cities, in which case, only the first one is the cathedral see where the bishop still actually resides.
In France, most dioceses coincide with a department (administrative province), but there are a few exceptions, where some arrondissements are attached to a diocese outside the department, or form a separate diocese within the department (this happens mainly in departments with numerous populations, such as Nord or Bouches-du-Rhône). Along with the list of the new ecclesiastical provinces and their suffragan dioceses, this list also gives the equivalent of the diocesan jurisdiction in departmental terms.
List of European French Dioceses
Episcopal Conference of ('Metropolitan', European) France
Ecclesiastical Province of Besançon
(Franche-Comté and part of Lorraine)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Besançon (Haute-Saône and Doubs, minus Montbéliard arrondissement)
- Diocese of Belfort-Montbéliard (Territoire de Belfort and Montbéliard arrondissement)
- Diocese of Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle)
- Diocese of Saint-Claude (Jura)
- Diocese of Saint-Dié (Vosges)
- Diocese of Verdun (Meuse)
Ecclesiastical Province of Bordeaux
Ecclesiastical Province of Clermont
(Auvergne)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Clermont (Puy-de-Dôme — New archdiocese (2002))
Ecclesiastical Province of Dijon
(Burgundy)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dijon (Côte-d'Or — New archdiocese (2002))
Ecclesiastical Province of Lille
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lille[1] (Nord, arrondissements of Dunkerque and Lille — New archdiocese (2008))
- Archdiocese of Cambrai (Nord, arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Cambrai, Douai, Valenciennes)
- Diocese of Arras (Pas-de-Calais)
Ecclesiastical Province of Lyon
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lyon (Rhône and the arrondissement of Roanne in the département of the Loire)
- Archdiocese of Chambéry (Savoie)
- Diocese of Annecy (Haute-Savoie)
- Diocese of Belley-Ars (Ain)
- Diocese of Grenoble-Vienne (Isère)
- Diocese of Saint-Étienne (Loire, minus the arrondissement of Roanne)
- Diocese of Valence (Drôme)
- Diocese of Viviers (Ardèche)
Ecclesiastical Province of Marseille
(Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and Corsica)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône, arrondissement of Marseille — New archdiocese (2002))
- Archdiocese of Aix (Bouches-du-Rhône, minus the arrondissement of Marseille (Arles is in the Bouches-du-Rhône))
- Archdiocese of Avignon (Vaucluse
- Diocese of Ajaccio (Upper Corsica and South Corsica)
- Diocese of Digne (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)
- Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon (Var)
- Diocese of Gap (Hautes-Alpes)
- Diocese of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes)
Ecclesiastical Province of Montpellier
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (Hérault — New archdiocese (2002))
Ecclesiastical Province of Paris
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Paris (City-département of Paris)
Ecclesiastical Province of Poitiers
(Poitou-Charentes and Limousin)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Poitiers (Vienne and Deux-Sèvres — New archdiocese (2002))
Ecclesiastical Province of Reims
(Champagne-Ardenne and Picardy)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Reims (arrondissement of Reims in the Marne and département of the Ardennes)
- Diocese of Amiens (Somme)
- Diocese of Beauvais (Oise)
- Diocese of Châlons (Marne, minus the arrondissement of Reims)
- Diocese of Langres (Haute-Marne)
- Diocese of Soissons (Aisne)
- Diocese of Troyes (Aube)
Ecclesiastical Province of Rennes
(Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire)
Ecclesiastical Province of Rouen
(Upper and Lower Normandy)
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rouen (Seine-Maritime, minus the arrondissement of Le Havre)
- Diocese of Bayeux (Calvados)
- Diocese of Coutances (Manche)
- Diocese of Évreux (Eure)
- Diocese of Le Havre (arrondissement of Le Havre in Seine-Maritime)
- Diocese of Sées (Orne)
Eccleasiastical Province of Toulouse
Eccleasiastical Province of Tours
(Centre)
Exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See
- Ordinariate for Eastern Catholics in France, vested in the Metropolitan Archbishop of capital Paris
- Military Ordinariate of France
- Archdiocese of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin)
- Diocese of Metz (Moselle)
Overseas French dioceses
(in many cases, in a conference/province(s) with non-French, mainly Anglophone, dioceses)
Episcopal Conference of the Antilles
Ecclesiastical Province of Martinique
(Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guyana; exclusively Francophone)
Episcopal Conference of the Pacific
Ecclesiastical Province of Papeete
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete (French Polynesia, minus the Marquesas Islands)
Ecclesiastical Province of Noumea
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nouméa (New Caledonia)
- Diocese of Wallis and Futuna (Wallis-et-Futuna)
- Diocese of Port-Vila, on and for Vanuatu (formerly the Anglo-French condominium New Hebrides)
Exempt, under the direct authority of the Holy See
Gallery of Archdioceses
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Besançon is Basilique-Cathédrale Saint-Jean l’évangéliste.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux is Cathédrale Saint-André.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Clermont is Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Dijon Cathedral is Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Lille is Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Lyon is Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Marseille is Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Montpellier is Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Paris is Notre Dame de Paris.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Poitiers is Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Reims is Notre-Dame de Reims.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Rennes is Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Rouen is Notre-Dame Cathedral of Rouen.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg is Notre-Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Toulouse is Cathédrale Saint-Étienne.
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The seat of the Archdiocese of Tours is Cathédrale Saint-Gatien.
See also
- List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)
- List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)
- List of Ancien Régime dioceses of France
- List of French dioceses in the 19th and 20th century
Notes
- ↑ Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Diocese of Lille to a Metropolitan Archdiocese. Cambrai (the former Metropolitan) became its suffragan, while retaining the title "Archdiocese" (see "Daily Bulletin - Elevazione di Lille (Francia) a Chiesa Metropolitana e Nomina del Primo Arcivescovo Metropolita" (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2008-03-30.).