Bishop of Laval
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Diocese of Laval Dioecesis Valleguidonensis Diocèse de Laval |
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| Location | |
| Country |  France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Rennes |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 5,175 km2 (1,998 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 305,147 279,500 (est.) (91.6%) |
| Parishes | 31 'new parishes' |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 30 June 1855 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Laval |
| Patron saint | Immaculate Conception |
| Secular priests | 112 (diocesan) 45 (Religious Orders) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Thierry Scherrer |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Pierre d'Ornellas |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Laval (Latin: Dioecesis Valleguidonensis; French: Diocèse de Laval) is a Roman Catholic Latin Rite diocese in France. The episcopal see is Laval Cathedral, in the city of Laval. Created in June 1855, the diocese was originally erected from the Diocese of Le Mans, and corresponds to the department of Mayenne. Under the Ancien Régime the diocese of Mans had an Archdeacon of Laval, whose responsibilities extended over the deaneries of Ernée, Évrun, Laval and Mayenne. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo.
The current bishop is Thierry Scherrer, appointed in 2008. On 10 April 2017 he announced the first diocesan synod ever to be held in Mayenne, to commence on 23 May. In 2013 there was one priest for every 1,780 Catholics.
At the beginning of the Revolution, the Constituent Assembly decided that the number of dioceses in France was excessive, and that approximately fifty of them could be eliminated. Those which survived would have their boundaries changed to coincide with new political subdivisions of France, called 'départements'. This was contrary to Canon Law, which reserved the creation and suppression of dioceses, as well as the appointment and transfer (translation) of bishops to the Pope. In creating the new Département de Mayenne, the French government produced a territory in which there was no established bishopric. The very large former diocese of Mans (now called Sarthe) was divided, and the western half given to the diocese of Mayenne, situated at Laval. A new Metropolitanate was created (the Métropole du Nord-Ouest), with its center at Rennes, embracing the department-dioceses of Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes du Nord, Finistère, Loire-Inférieure, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Morbihan, and Sarthe.
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