Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol and Saint-Malo

The Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo (Latin: Archidioecesis Rhedonensis, Dolensis et Sancti Maclovii; French: Archidiocèse de Rennes, Dol et Saint-Malo; Breton: Arc'heskopti Roazhon, Dol ha Sant-Maloù) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with the department of Ille et Vilaine. The Archdiocese has 8 suffragans: the Diocese of Angers, the Diocese of Laval, the Diocese of Le Mans, the Diocese of Luçon, the Diocese of Nantes, the Diocese of Quimper and Léon, the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier, and the Diocese of Vannes.
The Concordat of 1802 re-established the Diocese of Rennes which since then has included: the ancient Diocese of Rennes with the exception of three parishes given to the Diocese of Nantes; the greater part of the ancient Diocese of Dol; the greater part of the ancient Diocese of St. Malo; ten parishes that had formed part of the ancient Diocese of Vannes and Nantes. On 3 January 1859, the See of Rennes, which the French Revolution had desired to make a metropolitan, became an archiepiscopal see, with the Diocese of Quimper and Léon, Diocese of Vannes, and Diocese of St. Brieuc as suffragans. Cardinal Charles-Philippe Place obtained from Pope Leo XIII permission for the Archbishop of Rennes to add the titles of Dol and St. Malo to that of Rennes.
In 2022, in the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo there was one priest for every 3,319 Catholics.
Tradition names as first apostles of the future Diocese of Rennes, but of an uncertain date: Saint Maximinus, who was reported to have been a disciple and friend of Saint Paul (died AD 65), Saint Clarus, and Saint Justus. On the other hand, when in the fifth and sixth centuries bands of Christian Britons emigrated from Great Britain to Armorica and formed on its northern coast the small Kingdom of Domnonée, the Gospel was preached for the first time in the future Diocese of Dol and Diocese of Aleth. Among these missionaries were St. Armel, who, according to the legend, founded in the sixth century the town of Ploermel in the Diocese of Vannes and then retired into the forests of Chateaugiron and Janzé and attacked Druidism on the very site of the Dolmen of the Fairy Rocks (La Roche aux Fées); St. Méen (Mevennus) who retired to the solitudes around Pontrecoët and founded the monastery of Gael (550), known afterwards as St. Méen's; and St. Samson and St. Malo.
The earliest historical reference to the See of Rennes dates from 453. An assembly of eight bishops of Provincia Lugdunensis Tertia took place at Angers on 4 October 453 to consecrate a new bishop for Angers. Four of the bishops can be associated with particular Sees. The other four are assigned by scholars to the other dioceses in the ecclesiastical province, one of which was Rennes. One of the four prelates, Sarmatio, Chariato, Rumoridus, and Viventius, was Bishop of Rennes. This bishop's successor, likely his immediate successor, Athenius, took part in the Council of Tours in 461. Louis Duchesne is of opinion that the St. Amandus reckoned by some scholars among the bishops of Rennes at the end of the fifth century is the same as St. Amand of Rodez. He therefore excludes him from his list of authentic bishops.
In 1180 Bishop Philippe, acting in accordance with a dream (it is said), began the replacement of the old cathedral with a new edifice; the eastern part of the building was erected, but various delays hampered the completion of the whole structure. The ceremony of consecration did not take place until 3 November 1359, though the edifice was still uncompleted. A new cathedral which had been built and dedicated to Saint Peter in 1541 was demolished in 1755 and replaced by the current edifice.
The Chapter of the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre was composed of five dignities and sixteen Canons, and sixteen prebends. The dignities were: the Archdeacon of Rennes, the Archdeacon of Le Désert (de Deserto), the Cantor, the Succentor, and the Treasurer. The royal pouillé of 1648 names six dignities, omitting the Succentor and adding the Theologian and Penitentiary. The Treasurer was presented by the Pope. The Chapter, and all the cathedral chapters in France, were suppressed by the Constituent Assembly in 1790.
The diocese also contained three Collegiate Churches which had Canons: La Guerche (founded 1206), Vitré (also founded in 1206), and Champeau (mid-15th cent.). Notre-Dame de Guerche had twelve Canons and prebends, S. Marie Madeleine at Vitry had twenty-two Canons, headed by their Treasurer. Notre-Dame de Champeau had six Canons and prebends, and were headed by a Dean.
In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Rennes had the role of crowning the dukes of Brittany in his cathedral. On the occasion of his first entry into Rennes it was customary for him to be borne on the shoulders of four Breton barons.
In accordance with the terms of the Concordat of Bologna of 1516, between King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X all bishops in France (which at the time did not include "the Three Bishoprics", Metz, Toul and Verdun) were to be nominated by the King and approved (preconized) by the Pope. This was continued under Napoleon by the terms of the Concordat of 1801 and by the Bourbon monarchs and their successors to 1905 by the Concordat of 1817. The practice did not apply during the French Revolution, when the Civil Constitution of the Clergy mandated the election of bishops by qualified electors in each of the new départements of the republic. These 'Constitutional Bishops' were in schism with the Papacy. Therefore, nearly all Archbishops of Rennes from 1516 to 1905 were nominees of the French government. In addition to the nomination of the Bishop of Rennes, the king also held the nomination of the Abbey of Saint-Mélaine (O.S.B.), the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Rillé (O.S.A.), the Abbey of Saint-Georges-de-Rennes aux Nonnains (O.S.B.), and the Abbey of Saint-Sulpice aux Nonnains (O.S.B.).
Pope Francis has noted that in the seventeenth century, the Diocese of Rennes was the first diocese to institute a feast dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
During the French Revolution Claude Le Coz (1760–1815), Principal of the Collège de Quimper, was elected Constitutional Bishop of Ille-et-Vilaine. Under the Concordat he became Archbishop of Besançon.
Noteworthy bishops of the diocese of Rennes are: Marbodus, the hymnographer (1035–1123); the Dominican Yves Mayeuc (1507–41); Arnaud d'Ossat (1596–1600), cardinal in 1599, and prominent in the conversion of Henry IV of France; Godefroy Brossais Saint Marc (1848–78), cardinal in 1875; Charles Place (1878–93), cardinal in 1886; and Guillaume Labouré (1893–1906), cardinal in 1897.
48°07′N 1°41′W﻿ / ﻿48.11°N 1.68°W﻿ / 48.11; -1.68