Diocese of Arras

The Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) (Latin: Dioecesis Atrebatensis (–Bononiena–Audomarensis); French: Diocèse d'Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is the Arras Cathedral, in the city of Arras. The diocese encompasses all of the Department of Pas-de-Calais, in the Region of Hauts-de-France. The most significant jurisdictional changes all occurred during the Napoleonic wars. From 1802 to 1841, the diocese was suffragan of the Archdiocese of Paris, shifting away from the Archdiocese of Cambrai, after Napoleon dissolved the massive Archdiocese. After the defeat of Napoleon, the Napoleonic Concordat united the diocese of Arras, diocese of Saint-Omer and diocese of Boulogne together in one much larger diocese. Unlike most of the other dioceses immediately restored, it was not until 1841 that the diocese returned as a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cambrai. History Early history A person named Martin is said to have evangelized Artois and Arras, capital of the Celtic Atrebates by 350AD; however, these early Christian communities did not survive the barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. At the beginning of the sixth century Remigius, Archbishop of Reims, placed in the See of Arras St. Vedastus (St. Vaast) (d. c. 540), who had been the teacher of the Merovingian king Clovis I after the victory of Tolbiac. His successors, Dominicus and Vedulphus, are also both venerated as saints. After the death of Vedulphus, the See of Arras was transferred to Cambrai, and it was not until 1093 that Arras again became a diocese. Restoration in the 11th century Around 1093/94, the diocese of Arras was restored by splitting it from the diocese of Cambrai and Lambert of Guines was elected as its first bishop. This split was initiated by the counts of Flanders, Robert I and his son Robert II, who intended to become less dependent on the Holy Roman Empire, and received the approval from pope Urban II. The greatest intellectual of Arras in the 12th century, Clarembald of Arras, was first provost and then archdeacon of the diocese. At the time of the reform of the bishoprics of the Netherlands in 1559, the diocese had 422 parishes. Its metropolitan was changed from Reims to Cambrai by Pope Paul IV. Before the French Revolution the Cathedral Chapter consisted of the Provost, the Dean, the Archdeacon of Arras (Artois), the Archdeacon of Ostrevant, the Treasurer, the Penitentiary, 40 canons and 52 chaplains. There were some 400 parishes and 12 rural deans. King Philip II of Spain and Pope Pius IV founded the University of Douai in 1562 as a weapon in the Counterreformation and the French Wars of Religion. The Jesuits had a college at Douai, founded in 1599, and suppressed in 1762. Abolition and restoration during the French Revolution During the French Revolution the diocese of Arras was abolished and subsumed into a new diocese, the 'Pas de Calais', coterminous with the new 'Departement of the Pas-de-Calais', and a suffragan of the 'Metropole des Côtes de la Manche'. The clergy were required to swear and oath to the Constitution, and under the terms of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy a new bishop was to be elected by all the voters of the department. This placed them in schism with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. On 27 March 1791 the electors chose, on the fourth ballot, the curé of Saint-Nicolas-sur-les-Fossés at Arras, Pierre-Joseph Porion. In September 1801 First Consul Bonaparte abolished the Constitutional Church and signed a Concordat with Pope Pius VII which restored the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese of Arras was restored. Among the bishops of Arras were Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Councillor of the emperor Charles V, Bishop of Arras from 1545 to 1562, later Archbishop of Mechelen and Viceroy of Naples; François Richardot, a celebrated preacher, Bishop of Arras from 1562 to 1575; and Monseigneur Parisis (d. 1866), who figured prominently in the political assemblies of 1848. The current ratio of Catholics to priests is 4,168.5 to 1. Bishops Vedastus 499–540 Dominicus 540–545 Vedulphus 545–580 1095–1300 1300 to 1500 1500 to 1800 From 1800 Hugues-Robert-Jean-Charles de la Tour d'Auvergne-Lauragais 1802–1851 Pierre Louis Parisis 1851–1866 Jean-Baptiste Joseph Lequette 1866–1882 Guillaume René Meignan 1882–1884, also Archbishop of Tours Desiré-Joseph Dennel 1884–1891 Alfred-Casimir-Alexis Williez 1892–1911 Émile-Louis Cornil Lobbedey 1911–1916 Eugène Julien 1917–1930 Henri-Edouard Dutoit 1930–1945 Victor-Jean Perrin 1945–1961 Gérard-Maurice Eugène Huyghe 1961–1984 Henri-Fr.-M.-P. Derouet 1985–1998 Jean-Paul Jaeger 1998–2020 Olivier Leborgne 2020–present See also Catholic Church in France References 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. 495–496. (Use with caution; obsolete) Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) pp. 115–116. Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) p. 98. Eubel, Conradus ed.; Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. : |first1= has generic name (help) p. 122. Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. Retrieved 2016-07-06. pp. 99–100. Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 104. Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 105. Studies Christyn, Jean Baptiste (1743). Histoire Generale des Pays Bas contenant la description des XVII Provinces. Vol. Tome troisième. Bruxelles: Veuve Foppens. pp. 73ff. Debray, Laurent (1839). Notice sur l'ancienne cathédrale d'Arras et sur la nouvelle église Saint-Nicolas (in French). Arras: A. Tierny. Delmaire, Bernard (1994). Le diocèse d'Arras de 1093 au milieu du XV siècle: Recherches sur la vie religieuse dans le nord de la France au Moyen Age. Arras.: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) 2 vols. Deramecourt, Augustin Victor (1884). Le clergé du diocèse d'Arras, Boulogne et Saint-Omer pendant la Révolution (1789-1802) (in French). Vol. Tome I (of 4). Arras: Imprimerie de la Société du Pas-de-Calais. Deramecourt, Augustin Victor (1886). Le clergé du diocèse d'Arras, Boulogne et Saint-Omer pendant la Révolution (1789-1802) Tome Quatrième (in French). Vol. 4 vols. Imprimerie de la Société du Pas-de-Calais. Du Tems, Hugues (1775). Le clergé de France, ou tableau historique et chronologique des archevêques, évêques, abbés, abbesses et chefs des chapitres principaux du royaume, depuis la fondation des églises jusqu'à nos jours, par M. l'abbé Hugues Du Tems. Vol. Tome IV. Paris: Brunet. Jean, Armand (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. pp. 454–458. Gameson, Richard (2007). "The Earliest Books of Arras Cathedral". Scriptorium. 61 (2): 233–285. doi:10.3406/scrip.2007.4224. Retrieved 27 May 2024. Lotte Kéry: Die Errichtung des Bistums Arras 1093/1094. (Beihefte der Francia, 33). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1994, ISBN 3-7995-7333-X (Online) Lestocquoy, Jean (1949). La vie religieuse d'une province: le diocèse d'Arras (in French). Arras: Brunet. Pisani, Paul (1907). Répertoire biographique de l'épiscopat constitutionnel (1791-1802) (in French). Paris: A. Picard et fils. Sainte-Marthe (Sammarthani), Denis de (1725). Gallia Christiana: In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa... Provinciae Cameracensis, Coloniensis, Ebredunensis (in Latin). Vol. Tomus tertius (III). Paris: Typographia Regia. pp. 319–471, Instrumenta, pp. 78–100. Terninck, Auguste (1853). Essai historique et monographique sur l'ancienne cathédrale d'Arras ...: suivi d'un sanmaire sur les évêques, les privilèges, les sceaux, et les monnaies du chapitre et des évêques par ... (in French). Paris: Victor Didron. Tock, Benoît-Michel (1991). Les chartes des évêques d'Arras (1093-1203) Paris : CTHS, 1991. Tock, Benoît-Michel (1991). Les chartes promulguées par le chapitre cathédral d'Arras au XIIe siècle Turnholt : Brepols. Tock, Benoît-Michel; Ludovicus Milis (2000). Monumenta Arroasiensia Turnholt : Brepols, 2000. Charte attribuée à Saint Vindicien, évêque d'Arras, et regardée par les Religieux de Saint Vaast comme le titre primitif de leur exemption. Paris. 1778. A forgery: Edmund Ernst Hermann Stengel (2005). Archiv für Diplomatik: Schriftgeschichte, Siegel, und Wappenkunde (in German). Vol. 51. Böhlau Verlag. pp. 53, 65. External links Goyau, Georges. "Arras." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Retrieved: 2016-09-02. Acknowledgment This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Arras". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.