Archdiocese of Avignon Archidioecesis Avenionensis Archidiocèse d'Avignon |
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Location | |
Country | France |
Ecclesiastical province | Marseille |
Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Marseille |
Statistics | |
Area | 3,578 km2 (1,381 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2012) 554,000 405,100 (73.1%) |
Parishes | 179 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 4th Century |
Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame des Doms |
Patron saint | Notre-Dame St Agricola of Avignon |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Jean-Pierre Cattenoz |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Georges Pontier |
Website | |
Website of the Archdiocese |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the territory embraced by the department of Vaucluse, in the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The current archbishop is Jean-Pierre Marie Cattenoz, who was appointed in 2002.
Established in the 4th century as the Diocese of Avignon, the diocese was elevated to an Archdiocese in 1475, with the suffragan sees of the diocese of Carpentras, the diocese of Vaison, and the diocese of Cavaillon. By the Concordat of 1801 these three dioceses were united to Avignon, together with the diocese of Apt, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Aix. At the same time, however, Avignon was reduced to the rank of a bishopric and was made a suffragan see of Aix.
The archdiocese of Avignon was re-established in 1822, and received as suffragan sees the diocese of Viviers (restored in 1822); diocese of Valence (formerly under Lyon); diocese of Nîmes (restored in 1822); and diocese of Montpellier (formerly under Toulouse).