Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers

Diocese of Nevers
Dioecesis Nivernensis
Diocèse de Nevers

Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Dijon
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dijon
Statistics
Area 6,816 km2 (2,632 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2004)
232,000
180,000 (77.6%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Roman Rite
Established 4th Century
Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitte in Nevers
Patron saint St Quiricus and St Julietta
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Thierry Brac de La Perrière
Metropolitan Archbishop Roland Minnerath
Emeritus Bishops François Joseph Pierre Deniau Bishop Emeritus (1998-2011)
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Nièvre, in the Region of Bourgogne.

Suppressed by the Concordat of 1801 and united to the See of Autun, it was re-established in 1823 as suffragan of the archdiocese of Sens and took over a part of the former Diocese of Autun and a part of the ancient Diocese of Auxerre.

History

The Gallia Christiana mentions as first Bishop of Nevers St. Eladius, restored to health in the reign of Clovis by St. Severinus, Abbot of St. Maurice. According to Louis Duchesne, the first authentic bishop is Tauricanus, present at the Council of Epaon in 517.

A number of former bishops of Nevers are venerated as saints: St. Arey (Arigius) 549-52); St. Agricola (580-94); St. Jerome (800-16) who rebuilt in honour of the martyrs Quiricus and Julitta, the cathedral until then dedicated to St. Gervasius and St. Protasius. It is possible that in the 7th century three other saints occupied the See of Nevers: St. Diè (Deodatus), the same perhaps who died a hermit in the Vosges; St. Nectarius and St. Itier (Itherius).

The following bishops of Nevers were notable: the future cardinal Pierre Bertrandi (1320–22) who, in 1329-30, defended ecclesiastical immunities against the barons in the celebrated conferences of Paris and Vincennes presided over by Philip VI of France; Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1540–47) subsequently cardinal and whom the Leaguers wished to make King of France under the name of Charles X; Jacques Spifame (1548–58) who became a Calvinist in 1559, and was afterwards accused of forgery and beheaded at Geneva in 1556; the polemist Sorbin de Ste-Foi(1578–1606) a voluminous writer.

Among the saints of this diocese must be mentioned: Sts. Paul, priest; Péreux and Pélerin, martyrs between 272 and 303; St. Paroze (Patritius), Abbot of Nevers in the 6th century; the hermit St. Franchy (Francovæcus); the priest St. Vincent of Magny in the 9th century; Blessed Nicholas Applaine, canon of the collegiate church of Prémery (15th century) whose cassock Louis XI claimed as a relic. Claude Fauchet, constitutional Bishop of Calvados during the Revolution, was a native of the diocese.

The Abbey of La Charité sur Loire, founded in 1056, and known as the "eldest daughter" of Cluny, was inaugurated in 1106 by Pope Pascal II; the celebrated Suger, then a simple cleric, has left an account of the ceremony. The Benedictine Abbey of Corbigny, founded under Charlemagne, was occupied by the Huguenots in 1563, as a basis of operations.

Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes, died in the Convent of the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction in Nevers, 16 April 1879. The chief places of pilgrimage in the diocese are: Notre Dame de Pitié, at St. Martin d'Heuille, dating from the 14th century; Notre Dame de Fauboulvin at Corancy, dating from 1590; Notre Dame du Morvan at Dun-sur-Grandry, dating from 1876.

Among the congregations for women which originated in the diocese must be mentioned: the Ursuline nuns, a teaching order founded in 1622 at Nevers by the Duke of Gonzaga and the Nevers aldermen; the Hospitallers, founded in 1639 at La Charité-sur-Loire by Sister Médard-Varlet; the congregation of Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction of Nevers, founded in 1680, with mother-house at Nevers.

Bishops

To 1000

1000 to 1300

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1800

From 1800

External links

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

Coordinates: 46°59′14″N 3°09′26″E / 46.98722°N 3.15722°E