The Roman Catholic Diocese of Annecy, (Lat: Dioecesis Anneciensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. Originally erected in 1822, after the Concordat as a subdivision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chambéry, the diocese comprises the entirety of the department of Haute-Savoie in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. Only recently, in 2002, did the metropolitan change. The diocese is now suffragan to the Archdiocese of Lyon. The current archbishop is Yves Jean Marie Arsène Boivineau, appointed in 2001.
From 1535 to 1801 the bishops of Geneva, exiled by the Reformation from Geneva, lived at Annecy. St. Francis de Sales was Bishop of Annecy from 1602 to 1622. From 1801 to 1822, Annecy belonged to the Diocese of Chambéry and Geneva, but was made an episcopal see 15 February 1822, by the papal bull Sollicita catholici gregis.
The memory of St. Bernard of Menthon, founder of the hospice of the Grand St. Bernard, is still honoured in the Diocese of Annecy. St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal founded the Congregation of the Visitation at Annecy in 1610; at the death of its foundress the convents belonging to this order numbered 87. The relics of these saints are preserved in the Church of the Visitation at Annecy. The ancient Benedictine abbey of Talloires is near the Lac d'Annecy.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.