Ancient Diocese of Orange

Interior of Orange Cathedral

The ancient residential diocese of Orange is now a titular see of the Catholic Church

History

The city now called Orange in southern France was in Roman times called Arausio. It became the seat of a bishop very probably towards the end of the 3rd century: at the Synod of Arles in 314, its bishop was represented by a priest named Faustinus. The first bishop of Arausio whose name is given in extant documents was Constantius, who took part in the Council of Aquileia, 381. From the early 5th century, the see was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Arles.

Arausio hosted two important synods, in 441 and 529. The Second Council of Orange was of importance for its condemnation of what later came to be called Semipelagianism.

In accordance with the Concordat of 1801, Pope Pius VII attached the territory of the diocese to the archdiocese of Avignon by the papal bull Qui Christi Domini of 29 November 1801. In 1817, it was planned to restore the residential status of the bishopric in accordance with a new concordat, but the French parliament refused to ratify the concordat.[1][2][3][4] The ancient see of Arausio, therefore, no longer a residential bishopric, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[5]

Bishops

To 1000

1000 to 1300

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1790

Notes

  1. ↑ Denis de Sainte-Marthe, Gallia christiana, vol. I, Paris 1715, coll. 763-792
  2. ↑ Louis Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, vol. I, Paris 1907, pp. 265–266
  3. ↑ Joseph-Antoine Bastet, Essai historique sur les évêques du Diocèse d'Orange, Orange 1837
  4. ↑ Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, pp. 117–118; vol. 2, p. 99; vol. 3, p. 123; vol. 4, p. 102; vol. 5, p. 106; vol. 6, p. 107
  5. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 945