Roman Catholic Diocese of Carcassonne-Narbonne

Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne
Dioecesis Carcassonensis et Narbonensis
Diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne

Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Montpellier
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier
Statistics
Area 6,313 km2 (2,437 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2006)
311,800
181,000 (58.1%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Roman Rite
Established 533 (established as Diocese of Carcassonne, renamed as Diocese of Carcassonne et Narbonne: 14 June 2006)
Cathedral Cathedral of St Michael in Carcassonne
Patron saint St Nazarius and St Celsus
St Michael the Archangel
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Alain Planet
Metropolitan Archbishop Pierre-Marie Carré
Emeritus Bishops Jacques Joseph Marie Despierre Bishop Emeritus (1982-2004)
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Carcassonne, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the entire department of Aude. It is suffragan to the archdiocese of Montpellier.

On the occasion of the Concordat of 1802, the former Diocese of Carcassonne, nearly all the old Archdiocese of Narbonne, almost the entire Diocese of Saint-Papoul, a part of the ancient Diocese of Alet and ancient Diocese of Mirepoix, and the former Diocese of Perpignan, were united to make the one Diocese of Carcassone. In 1822 the Diocese of Perpignan was re-established. In 2006 the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne.[1]

History

Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths during the Golden Age. The Visigoths sought to compensate themselves for the loss of Lodève and Uzès by having Carcassonne erected into a bishopric. The first of its bishops known to history was Sergius (589).

From 1848 to 1855 the see was occupied by Bishop de Bonnechose, later Cardinal, and from 1855 to 1873, by the mystical writer, Bishop de la Bouillerie.

The history of this region is intimately connected with that of the Albigenses. Notre-Dame-de-Prouille Monastery, where St. Dominic established a religious institute for converted Albigensian women in 1206, is still a place of pilgrimage consecrated to the Blessed Virgin. St. Peter of Castelnau, the Cistercian inquisitor martyred by the Albigenses in 1208, St. Camelia, put to death by the same sectarians, and St. John Francis Regis (1597-1640), the Jesuit, born at Fontcouverte in the Diocese of Narbonne, are specially venerated in the Diocese of Carcassonne.

Notre-Dame de Canabès and Notre-Dame de Limoux, both of which date back to the ninth century, are still frequented by pilgrims. The church of Saints-Nazaire-et-Celse at Carcassonne was rebuilt toward the end of the eleventh century, the first work upon it being blessed by Pope Urban II, who came to Carcassonne to urge the Viscount Bernard Ato IV de Trincavel to join the Crusade. The naves of this church are Roman, and the transept and choir Gothic.

Bishops

To 1000

1000 to 1300

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1800

From 1800

Bishop Alain-Emile Baptiste Planet

References

  1. ↑ "Diocese of Carcassonne et Narbonne". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

External links

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

Coordinates: 43°12′56″N 2°21′12″E / 43.21556°N 2.35333°E