Roman Catholic Diocese of Carcassonne-Narbonne

The Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne (Latin: Dioecesis Carcassonensis et Narbonensis; French: Diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire department of Aude. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Montpellier.

Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne Dioecesis Carcassonensis et Narbonensis Diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne
Carcassonne Cathedral
Location
Country	France
Ecclesiastical province	Montpellier
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Montpellier
Statistics
Area	6,313 km2 (2,437 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 378,365 230,000 (60.8%)
Parishes	325
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
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
Secular priests	53 (Diocesan) 45 (Religious Orders) 9 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Bruno Valentin
Metropolitan Archbishop	Norbert Turini
Bishops emeritus	Jacques Despierre Alain Planet
Map
Website
Website of the Diocese

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 Carcassonne. In 1822 the Diocese of Perpignan was re-established. In 2006 the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne.^[1]

History

Carcassonne was founded by the Visigoths, who sought to compensate themselves for the loss of Lodève and Uzès by having Carcassonne made an episcopal see. The first of its bishops known to history was Sergius (589) and an Archdeacon of Carcassonne, Donnel, is recorded as having subscribed to the acts of the 4th Council of Toledo in 633.^[2]

The churches of Nôtre-Dame de Canabès and Nôtre-Dame de Limoux, both of which date back to the ninth century, are still frequented by pilgrims. The Cathedral 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 had come to Carcassonne in 1088 to urge the Viscount Bernard Ato IV de Trincavel to join the Crusade. In 1295 Pope Urban addressed a letter to Bishop Pierre, confirming the institution of Clercs Regular of Saint Augustine in the Chapter of the Cathedral. The Chapter had existed for a considerable time, perhaps going back to Bishop Gimerius in the tenth century, but papal sanction confirmed and strengthened its position as a corporate body living under a Rule.^[3] The approbation of Urban II was confirmed by Pope Anastasius IV in 1154. The Chapter included as officers the two Archdeacons, two archpriests, a Sacristan, a Precentor, a Chamberlain, an Eleemosynary, and a master of the works. In 1439, the canons were secularized by Pope Eugenius IV, and the Chapter came to have as officers a Dean, the Archdeacon, a Precentor, and a Sacristan. There were thirty Canons, each with a prebend, and they received a new set of Statutes.^[4]

Since the Synod of 2007, the diocese has been reorganized into fourteen 'new parishes'.^[5]

The history of the region of Carcassonne 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 present Diocese of Carcassonne.

From 1848 to 1855 the see was occupied by Bishop de Bonnechose, who was created a Cardinal by Pope Pius IX on 11 December 1863; on 22 September 1864 he was given the red hat and named Cardinal-Priest of San Clemente.^[6] From 1855 to 1873, the see was held by the mystical writer, François-Alexandre Roullet de La Bouillerie.^[7]

Bishops

To 1000

• Hilaire v.550
• Sergius 589
• Solemnius 633
• Elpidius 636
• Sylvestre 653
• Stephanus (Étienne, Stapin)^[8] 683
• Hispicio 791
• Señor 813
• Eurus 860
• Léger 878
• Willeran 883–897
• Saint Gimer 902–931
• Abbon 933–934
• Gisandus 934–952
• Franco 965–977
• Aimeric 982–986

1000 to 1300

• Adalbert 1002–1020
• Foulques 1028
• Guifred 1031–1058
• Bernard 1072–1075
• Pierre Artaud 1077–1083
• Pierre II 1083–1101
• Guillaume Bernard 1106–1107
• Raimond I 1107–1110
• Arnaud de Girone 1113–1130
• Raimond de Sorèze 1131–1141
• Pons de Tresmals 1142–1159
• Pons de Brugals 1159–1166
• Othon 1170–1201
• Bérenger 1201–1209
• Bernard-Raimond de Roquefort 1209–1231
• Guy de Vaux-de-Cernay 1212–1223 (contested)
• Clarín 1226–1248
• Guillaume Arnaud 1248–1255
• Guillaume Rudolphe^[9] 1256–1264
• Bernard de Capendu 1265–1278
• Gauthier (called Jean Gauthier, without warrant)^[10] 1278–1280
• Bérenger 1280^[11]
• Isarn v.1286^[12]
• Pierre de La Chapelle-Taillefer^[13] 1291–1298
• Jean de Chevry^[14] 1298–1300

1300 to 1500

• Pierre de Roquefort 1300–1321
• Guillaume de Flavacourt 1322–1323
• Pierre Rodier 1323–1330
• Pierre Jean 1330–1336
• Gancelin Jean 1337–1346
• Gilbert Jean 1347–1354
• Arnaud Aubert 1354–1357
• Geoffroi de Vayrols 1358–1361
• Étienne Aubert^[15] 6 March 1361 – 17 September 1361 (never consecrated)
• Jean Fabri^[16] 1362–1370
• Hugues de La Jugie^[17] 27 June – 13 July 1371 (never installed)
• Pierre de Saint-Martial^[18] 1372–1391
• Simon de Cramaud, Patriarch of Alexandria (1391–1409)^[19] 1391–1409
• Pierre Aimeri^[20] 1409–1412
• Géraud du Puy^[21] 1413–1420
• Geoffroi de Pompadour^[22] 1420–1445
• Jean d’Étampes^[23] 1446–1455
• Geoffroi de Basilhac^[24] 1456–1459
• Jean du Chastel 1459–1475
• Guichard d'Aubusson 1476–1497

1500 to 1800

• Pierre d'Auxillon 1497–1512
• Hugues de Voisins 1512–1516
• Jean de Basilhac 1516–1521
• Martín de Saint-André 1521–1545
• Charles de Bourbon-Vendôme 1546–1552 and 1565–1567, Cardinal
• François de Faucon 1556–1565
• Vitelli Vitelloti 1567–1568
• Annibal de Ruccellai 1569–1601
• Christophe de L’Estang 1603–1621
• Vitalis de L'Estang 1621–1652
• François de Servien 1653–1654
• Louis de Nogaret de La Valette 1655–1679
• Louis d'Anglure de Bourlemont 1680
• Louis Joseph de Grignan 1681–1722
• Louis Joseph de Chateauneuf de Rochebonne^[25] 1722–1729
• Armand Bazin de Bezons 1730–1778
• Jean Auguste de Chastenet de Puységur 1778–1788
• François Marie Fortuné de Vintimille^[26] 1789–1791
• Guillaume Bésaucèle 1791–1801, constitutional bishop^[27]

From 1800

Bishop Alain-Emile Baptiste Planet

• Louis Belmas^[28] 1801 (Constitutional Bishop)
• Arnaud-Ferdinand de La Porte^[29] 1802–1824
• Joseph-Julien de Saint-Rome Gualy^[30] 1824–1847
• Henri-Marie-Gaston de Bonnechose^[31] 1848–1855
• François-Alexandre Roullet de La Bouillerie^[32] 1855–1873
• François-Albert Leuillieux^[33] 1873–1881, translated to Chambéry (1881)
• Paul-Félix Arsène Billard^[34] 1881–1901
• Paul-Félix Beuvain de Beauséjour 1902–1930
• Emmanuel Coste 1930–1931, then Bishop of Aix
• Jean-Joseph Pays 1932–1951
• Pierre-Marie Joseph Puech 1952–1982
• Jacques Despierre 1982–2004
• Alain Planet (2004 – 31 March 2023)^[35]
• Bruno Valentin (31 March 2023 – present)

See also

• Catholic Church in France
• List of Catholic dioceses in France

References

1. "Diocese of Carcassonne et Narbonne". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
2. Mahul, V, pp. 393 and 539.
3. Mahul, V, pp. 403 and 501, insisting on a date of 1088, but the Pope was nowhere near Milan, the place from which the letter was issued, in 1088. The correct date is 21 May 1095. See Philipp Jaffé, Regesta pontificum Romanorum I (Leipzig 1885), no. 5565.
4. Mahul, V, p. 575-586. The first Dean was Hélie de Pompadour, Canon of the Cathedral, licentiate in laws and Bachelor of Canon Law.
5. Le diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne, les-paroisses. Retrieved: 2016-07-29.
6. David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy: Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand Cardinal de Bonnechose. Retrieved: 2016-07-29. Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Consistory of December 11, 1863. Retrieved: 2016-07-29.
7. François-Alexandre de La Bouillerie (1866). Etude sur le symbolisme de la nature interprété d'après l'Écriture sainte et les Pères... (in French) (deuxieme ed.). Paris: Libr. Martin-Beaupré Fres.
8. Rouch de Cavanac, (Abbe) (1867). Mémoire sur Saint Stapin, cinquième évêque de Carcassonne, etc (in French). Carcassonne: Pierre Polere.
9. Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille (1840). Notice sur la chapelle et le mausolée de l'évêque Guillaume Radulphe, situés à côté de la cathédrale Saint-Nazaire dans la Cité de Carcassonne (in French). Carcassonne: L. Pomiés-Gardel.
10. Mahul, V, pp. 437–439. Gauthier had previously been Archdeacon of Carcassonne.
11. Gams, p. 528, but not recognized by Eubel, I, p. 166. Cf. Mahul, V, pp. 438–439.
12. Gams, p. 528, but not recognized by Eubel, I, p. 166. Cf. Mahul, V, pp. 438–439.
13. Canon of Paris and Royal clerk; one of the royal commissioners who held the Parliament at Toulouse, 1288–1290. Mahul, V, p. 439-441.
14. Jean de Chevry had been archdeacon of Rouen when he was named Bishop of Carcassonne by Pope Boniface VIII. In 1299–1300 he was ambassador of Philip IV of France to Edward I of England. Mahul, V, p. 441.
15. Étienne Aubert was a grand-nephew of Pope Innocent VI. Named cardinal on 17 September 1361. Mahul, V, pp. 453–454.
16. Mahul, V, pp. 454–455.
17. Hugues de La Jugie was a nephew of Pope Clement VI. Bishop of Béziers (1350–1371). Transferred to Carcassonne by his cousin, Pope Gregory XI, on 27 June 1371. He died suddenly at Avignon, where he had gone to swear allegiance to his cousin, on 13 July 1371. He was buried in the Cathedral of Béziers. Mahul, V, p. 456.
18. Mahul, V, pp. 456–459.
19. On 2 July 1409, Simon Cremaud was named Archbishop of Reims. He was named a Cardinal by Antipope John XXIII on 13 April 1413. He died on 15 December 1422. Mahul, V, pp. 459–460. Eubel, I, p. 33, 82, 166.
20. Mahul, V, p. 460.
21. Mahul, V, pp. 461–463.
22. Mahul, V, pp. 463–464.
23. Mahul, V, pp. 464–466.
24. Mahul, V, pp. 466–468.
25. Guillaume Beaufils (1730). Oraison funèbre de... Louis-Joseph de Chateau-Neuf de Rochebonne, évêque de Carcassonne,... doyen, comte de Lyon... (in French). chez Claude Journet.
26. Monerie De Cabrens (1888). Mgr de Vintimille, des comtes de Marseille: évêque de Carcassone, d'après sa correspondance de 1788 à 1814 (in French). Marseille: Imp. marseillaise. When the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made his position impossible, subsuming his diocese into the 'Diocese of the Aude', Vintimille fled to Italy, where he found refuge with Cardinal de Bernis. He refused to resign in 1801, when Pius VII signed the Concordat with First Consul Bonaparte, even at papal request. Armand Jean (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. p. 263.
27. Besaucèle had been Dean of the Chapter of Carcassonne before the Revolution. He was consecrated at Toulouse by Archbishop Antoine-Pascal-Hyacinthe Sermet of the Haute-Garonne on 15 May 1791. He was 78 years old. Paul Pisani (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791–1802) (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils. pp. 371–374 and 457.
28. Belmas was elected as Coadjutor to Constitutional Bishop Besaucèle, and was consecrated on 26 October 1800. Under the new Concordat of 1801, he retracted his schismatic adherence to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and obtained the See of Cambrai, of which he took possession on 6 June 1802. He repeated his retraction to Pius VII personally in 1804. He died, as Bishop of Cambrai, on 21 July 1841. Mahul, V, pp. 534–535.
29. L'épiscopat français, pp. 170–171.
30. L'épiscopat français, pp. 171–172.
31. L'épiscopat français, pp. 172–173.
32. Antoine Ricard (1887). Vie de Mgr de La Bouillerie: évêque de Carcassonne, archevêque de Perga, coadjuteur de Bordeaux, 1810–1882 (in French). Paris: Société genérale de librairie catholique. L'épiscopat français, pp. 173–175.
33. L'épiscopat français, pp. 174–175.
34. L'épiscopat français, pp. 175–176.
35. "Resignations and Appointments, 31.03.2023" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.

Bibliography

Reference works

• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo. Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. pp. 528–529. (Use with caution; obsolete)
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) pp. 166.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) p. 118.
• Eubel, Conradus (ed.); Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help) p. 152.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. Retrieved 2016-07-06. pp. 134.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. pp. 143.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 147-148.
• Sainte-Marthe, Denis de; Hauréau, Barthélemy (1739). Gallia Christiana: In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa, De provincia Narbonensi (in Latin). Vol. Tomus sextus (VI). Paris: Typographia Regia. pp. 860–1028, Instrumenta, 411–475.

Studies

• Bouges, Thomas Augustin (1741). Histoire ecclesiastique et civile de la ville et diocése de Carcassonne: avec les pièces justificatives & une notice ancienne & moderne de ce diocése (in French). Paris: Chez Pierre Gandouin, Pierre Emery, Pierre Piget.
• Carayon, Charles (1903). L'Inquisition à Carcassonne au XIIIe et au XIVe siècle (in French). Paris: C. Lacour. ISBN 978-2-84149-761-4.
• De Vic, Cl.; Vaissete, J. (1876). Histoire générale de Languedoc (in French). Vol. Tome IV. Toulouse: Edouard Privat. [Archbishops of Narbonne].
• De Vic, Claude; Vaissete, J. (1745). Histoire générale de Languedoc avec des notes et les pièces justificatives (in French). Vol. Tome cinquième. Paris: chez Jacques Vincent.
• Douais, Célestin (1900). Documents pour servir à l'histoire de l'Inquisition dans le Languedoc: publiés pour la Société de l'histoire de France (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Honoré Champion.
• Douais, Célestin (1900). Documents pour servir à l'histoire de l'Inquisition dans le Languedoc (in Latin and French). Vol. Deuxième partie: Textes. Paris: Renouard.
• Du Mege de la Haye, Alexandre (1832–1833). "Notice sur le tombeau de Saint-Hilaire, évêque de Carcassonne". Mémoires de la Société archéologique du midi de la France. 1: 83–92.
• Duchesne, Louis (1907). Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule: I. Provinces du Sud-Est. Paris: Fontemoing. pp. 289–295, 307–308. second edition (in French)
• Poux, Joseph (1922–1938). La cité de Carcassonne: histoire et description (in French). Vol. 5 volumes. Toulouse: É. Privat.
• Sparks, Chris (2014). Heresy, Inquisition and Life Cycle in Medieval Languedoc. York: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-1-903153-52-9.
• Strayer, Joseph Reese (1992). The Albigensian Crusades. Ann Arbor MI USA: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-06476-2.
• Sumption, Jonathan (2011). The Albigensian Crusade. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-26657-9.
• Vaux De Cernay, Pierre (1951). P. Guebin and H. Maisonneuve (ed.). Histoire Albigeoise (in French). Paris: Vrin. ISBN 978-2-7116-0608-5.
• Vidal, Jean-Marie (1903). Un Inquisiteur jugé par ses "victimes": Jean Galand et les Carcassonnais (in French). Paris: A. Picard.

Collections

• Fédération historique du Languedoc méditerranéen et du Roussillon (1970). Carcassonne et sa région: actes des 41e et 24e Congrès d'études régionales. Fédération historique du Languedoc et du Roussillon. [papers given at a congress]
• Société bibliographique (France) (1907). L'épiscopat français depuis le Concordat jusqu'à la Séparation (1802-1905). Paris: Librairie des Saints-Pères.
• Mahul, Alphonse Jacques (1867). Cartulaire et archives des communes de l'ancien diocèse et de l'arrondissement administratif de Carcassonne: Villes-Villages-Églises-Abbayes-Prieurés-Chateaux-Seigneuries-Fiefs-Généalogies-Blasons-Métaires-Lieux bâtis- Quartiers ruraux-Notes statistiques (in French and Latin). Vol. 5. Paris: Didron. [Bishops of Carcassonne: pp. 390–535]

External links

• (in French) Centre national des Archives de l'Église de France, L’Épiscopat francais depuis 1919, retrieved: 2016-12-24.
• Goyau, Georges (1908). Carcassonne (Carcassum). The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved: 2016-07-28. (obsolete)

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

43°12′56″N 2°21′12″E