Bishop of Autun
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Diocese of Diocese of Autun - Chalon-sur-Saône - Mâcon - Cluny Dioecesis Augustodunensis-Cabillonensis-Matisconensis-Cluniacensis Diocèse d'Autun - Chalon-sur-Saône - Mâcon - Cluny |
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| Location | |
| Country | France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Dijon |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Dijon |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 8,575 km2 (3,311 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2012) 575,000 548,000 (95.3%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | United: 15 December 1962 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of St Lazarus in Autun |
| Patron saint | St Lazarus of Bethany |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Benoît Rivière |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Roland Minnerath |
| Emeritus Bishops | Raymond Gaston Joseph Séguy Bishop Emeritus (1987-2006) |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun (Lat. dioecesis Aeduensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire, in the Region of Bourgogne.
The diocese was suffragan to the Archdiocese of Lyon under the Ancien Régime, and the Bishop of Autun held the post of Vicar of the Archbishop. The bishopric of Chalon-sur-Saône (since Roman times) and (early medieval) bishopric of Mâcon, also suffragans of Lyon, were united to Autun after the French Revolution by the Concordat signed by Napoleon, Emperor of the French, and Pope Pius VII. For a short time, from 1802 to 1822, the enlarged diocese of Autun was suffragan to the Archbishop of Besançon. In 1822, however, Autun was again subject to the Archbishop of Lyon. The diocese of Autun is now, since 8 December 2002, suffragan to the Archbishop of Dijon. The current bishop of Autun is Benoit Rivière.
Christian teaching reached Autun at a very early period, as is known from the famous funeral inscription, in classical Greek, of a certain Pectorius which dates from the 3rd century. It was found in 1839 in the cemetery of St. Peter l'Estrier at Autun, and makes reference to baptism and the Holy Eucharist.
Local recensions of the "Passion" of St. Symphorianus of Autun tell the story that, on the eve of the persecution of Septimius Severus, St. Polycarp assigned to Irenaeus two priests and a deacon (Benignus, Andochius and Thyrsus), all three of whom departed for Autun. St. Benignus went on to Langres, while the others remained at Autun. According to this legendary cycle, which dates from about the first half of the 6th century, it was not then believed at Autun that the city was an episcopal see in the time of St. Irenaeus (c. 140-211). Another tradition current at Autun, however, names St. Amator as its first bishop and places his episcopacy about 250. The first bishop known to history, however, is Saint Reticius, an ecclesiastical writer, and contemporary of the Emperor Constantine I (306-337).
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