Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. In 1957 it was renamed as the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.[1]

A suffragan of the Archbishopric of Aix, it comprised the whole département of Var. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, re-established by that of 1817, and definitively established in 1823.[2]

The arrondissement of Grasse, which until 1860 belonged to the département of Var, when it was annexed to that of the Alpes-Maritimes, was, in 1886, separated from Fréjus and attached to the diocese of Nice. A Papal Brief of 1852 authorized the bishop to assume the title of Bishop of Fréjus and Toulon. The present diocese comprises the territory of the ancient Diocese of Fréjus as well as that of the ancient diocese of Toulon.

Contents

History

Christianity would seem to have been introduced into Fréjus in the time of Emperor Constantine. History relates that in 374 a certain Acceptus falsely declared himself guilty of some crimes in order to rid himself of the episcopal dignity, and that the Council of Valencia besought the Church to name another in his stead.

The following are named among the bishops of this see:

The Island of Lérins, well known as the site of the celebrated monastery founded there in 410, was sold in 1859 by the bishop of Fréjus to an English purchaser. A number of the saints of Lérins are especially honoured in the diocese. Among them are Sts. Honoratus, Caesarius, Hilary, and Virgilius, all of whom became archbishop of Arles; Quinidius, Bishop of Vaison; Valerius, Bishop of Nice; Maximus, Bishop of Riez; Veranus and Lambertus, both Bishop of Vence; Vincent of Lérins, author of the Commonitorium, and his brother Lupus, Bishop of Troyes; Agricola, Bishop of Avignon; Aigulphus and Porcarius, martyrs; St. Tropesius, martyr during the persecution of Emperor Nero; St. Louis of Toulouse (1274–1297), a native of Brignoles, in the Diocese of Toulon, and later Archbishop of Toulouse; and the virgin St. Roseline, prioress of the monastery of La Celle-Roubaud, who died in 1329, and whose shrine, situated at Les Arcs near Draguignan, has been for six centuries a place of pilgrimage, are likewise especially honoured in the diocese.

The sojourn in 1482 of St. Francis of Paola at Bormes and at Fréjus, where he caused the cessation of the plague, made a lasting impression.

Bishops

To 1000

1000 to 1300

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1800

From 1800

References

  1. ^ "Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon". catholic-hierarchy.org. http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dfrej.html. 
  2. ^ "Fréjus". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06269a.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-18. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.