Diocese of Amiens Dioecesis Ambianensis Diocèse d'Amiens |
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Location | |
Country | France |
Ecclesiastical province | Reims |
Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Reims |
Statistics | |
Area | 6,277 km2 (2,424 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2012) 586,200 503,200 (85.8%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 3rd Century |
Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame in Amiens |
Patron saint | St. Fermin of Amiens |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Olivier Leborgne |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Thierry Jordan |
Emeritus Bishops | Jacques Moïse Eugène Noyer Bishop Emeritus (1987-2003) François Jacques Bussini Bishop Emeritus (1985-1987) |
Map | |
Website | |
Website of the Diocese |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Amiens (Latin: Dioecesis Ambianensis; French: Diocèse d'Amiens) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Somme, of which the city of Amiens is the capital.
It was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Reims during the old regime; of Paris, 1802 to 1822; and of Reims again, since 1822.
Louis Duchesne denies any value to the legend of two Saints Firmin, honoured on the first and twenty-fifth of September, as the first and third Bishops of Amiens. The legend is of the 8th century and incoherent. Regardless of whether a St. Firmin, native of Pampeluna, was martyred during the Diocletianic Persecution, it is certain that the first bishop known to history is , who defended the divinity of Christ in the councils held during the middle of the 4th century.
The cathedral (13th century) is an admirable Gothic monument, and was made the subject of careful study by John Ruskin in his Bible of Amiens. The nave of this cathedral is considered a type of the ideal Gothic.
The church of St. Acheul, near Amiens, and formerly its cathedral, was, in the 19th century, the home of a major Jesuit novitiate. The beautiful churches of St. Ricquier and Corbie perpetuate the memory of the great Benedictine abbeys and homes of learning founded in these places in 570 and 662.
Coordinates: 49°53′39″N 2°18′07″E / 49.8942°N 2.30189°E