# 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.
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.

## 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.
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. 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.
Since the Synod of 2007, the diocese has been reorganized into fourteen 'new parishes'.
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. From 1855 to 1873, the see was held by the mystical writer, François-Alexandre Roullet de La Bouillerie.

## Bishops
### To 1000

* Hilaire v.550
* Sergius 589
* Solemnius 633
* Elpidius 636
* Sylvestre 653
* Stephanus (Étienne, Stapin) 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 1256–1264
* Bernard de Capendu 1265–1278
* Gauthier (called Jean Gauthier, without warrant) 1278–1280
* Bérenger 1280
* Isarn v.1286
* Pierre de La Chapelle-Taillefer 1291–1298
* Jean de Chevry 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 6 March 1361 – 17 September 1361 (never consecrated)
* Jean Fabri 1362–1370
* Hugues de La Jugie 27 June – 13 July 1371 (never installed)
* Pierre de Saint-Martial 1372–1391
* Simon de Cramaud, Patriarch of Alexandria (1391–1409) 1391–1409
* Pierre Aimeri 1409–1412
* Géraud du Puy 1413–1420
* Geoffroi de Pompadour 1420–1445
* Jean d’Étampes 1446–1455
* Geoffroi de Basilhac 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 1722–1729
* Armand Bazin de Bezons 1730–1778
* Jean Auguste de Chastenet de Puységur 1778–1788
* François Marie Fortuné de Vintimille 1789–1791
* Guillaume Bésaucèle 1791–1801, constitutional bishop

### From 1800

* Louis Belmas 1801 (Constitutional Bishop)
* Arnaud-Ferdinand de La Porte 1802–1824
* Joseph-Julien de Saint-Rome Gualy 1824–1847
* Henri-Marie-Gaston de Bonnechose 1848–1855
* François-Alexandre Roullet de La Bouillerie 1855–1873
* François-Albert Leuillieux 1873–1881, translated to Chambéry (1881)
* Paul-Félix Arsène Billard 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)
* Bruno Valentin (31 March 2023 – present)