Bishop of Clermont
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Archdiocese of Clermont Archidioecesis Claromontanus Archidiocèse de Clermont |
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| Location | |
| Country |  France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Clermont |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 8,016 km2 (3,095 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 619,000 600,000 (96.9%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 3rd Century (As Diocese of Auvergne) 8 December 2002 (As Archdiocese of Clermont) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Notre Dame in Clermont-Ferrand |
| Patron Saint | Saint Austremonius of Clermont |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | François Kalist |
| Suffragans |
Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay Diocese of Moulins Diocese of Saint-Flour |
| Map | |
.svg) |
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| Website | |
| Website of the Archdiocese | |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: Archidioecesis Claromontanus; French: Archidiocèse de Clermont) is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Puy-de-Dôme, in the Region of Auvergne. The Archbishop's seat is Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral. Throughout its history Clermont was the senior suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bourges. It became a metropolitan see itself, however, in 2002. The current Archbishop is François Kalist.
At first very extensive, the diocese lost Haute-Auvergne in 1317 through the reorganization of the structure of bishoprics in southern France and Aquitaine by Pope John XXII, resulting in the creation of the diocese of Saint-Flour. In 1822, in the reorganization of French dioceses by Pope Pius VII, following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, the diocese of Clermont lost the Bourbonnais, on account of the erection of the diocese of Moulins. Since the reorganization in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, there are now four dioceses in the Province of Clermont: Clermont, Le Puy-en-Velay, Moulins, and Saint-Flour.
The first Bishop of Clermont was Saint Austremonius (Stramonius). According to local tradition he was one of the seventy-two Disciples of Christ, by birth a Jew, who came with Saint Peter from Palestine to Rome and subsequently became the Apostle of Auvergne, Berry, Nivernais, and Limousin. At Clermont he is said to have converted the senator Cassius and the pagan priest Victorinus, to have sent Saint Sirenatus (Cerneuf) to Thiers, Saint Marius to Salers, Saint Nectarius (Nectaire) and Saint Antoninus into other parts of Auvergne, and to have been beheaded in 92. This tradition is based on a life of Saint Anstremonius written in the tenth century in the monastery of Mozac, where the body of the saint had rested from 761, and rewritten by the monks of Issoire, who retained the saint's head. Gregory of Tours, born in Auvergne in 544 and well versed in the history of that country, looks upon Austremonius as one of the seven envoys who, about 250, evangelized Gaul; he relates how the body of the saint was first interred at Issoire, being there the object of great veneration.
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