Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajaccio

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajaccio (Adjax or Ajax in Latin), is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the whole of the island of Corsica.

Erected in the 3rd century, the diocese was formerly a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa. Since the French Concordat of 1801, the diocese has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Aix.

Its first bishop known to history was Evander, who assisted at the Council of Rome in 313.

Before the French Revolution, Corsica contained five other dioceses:

The Byzantine ruins at Mariana perpetuate the memory of the church built by the Pisans in the 12th century.

There is a legend that the bishops banished from Africa to Corsica in 484 by Hunneric, Arian King of the Vandals, built with their own hands the primitive cathedral of Ajaccio. The present cathedral, dating from the end of the 16th century, owes its construction to the initiative of Gregory XIII, who while still Ugo Buoncompagni, spent some time at Ajaccio as papal legate. The see was left vacant for five years, during which time the diocesan revenues were applied to the building of the cathedral. It was finished by Bishop Giustiniani after his nomination.

Liturgical services are held according to the Greek Byzantine rite in the village of Cargèse, founded in 1676 by the descendants of the Greek aristocrat Stephen Comnenus (Stephanos Comnenos), whom the Ottoman Turks had expelled from the Peloponnesus.

Ordinaries

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