Diocese of Tulle Dioecesis Tutelensis Diocèse de Tulle |
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Location | |
Country | France |
Ecclesiastical province | Poitiers |
Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Poitiers |
Statistics | |
Area | 5,896 km2 (2,276 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2014) 242,454 223,000 (92.1%) |
Parishes | 296 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 11 July 1317 |
Cathedral | Cathedral of Notre Dame and St. Martin |
Patron saint | Saint Martin of Tours |
Secular priests | 54 (diocesan) 5 (Religious Orders) |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Francis Bestion |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Pascal Wintzer |
Emeritus Bishops | Bernard Louis Marie Charrier (since 2013) |
Website | |
Website of the Diocese of Tulle |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulle (Latin: Dioecesis Tutelensis; French: Diocèse de Tulle) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Tulle, France. The Diocese of Tulle comprises the whole département of Corrèze. Originally established in 1317, the diocese was suppressed by the Concordat of 1802, which joined it to the See of Limoges. In 1817, the diocese was re-established in principle, according to the terms of the Concordat of 1817, but was re-erected canonically only by the papal Bulls dated 6 and 31 October 1822, and made suffragan to the Archbishop of Bourges. Since the reorganization of French ecclesiastical provinces by Pope John Paul II on 8 December 2002, Tulle has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Poitiers.
According to legends which arose in later years around the St. Martial cycle, that saint, who had been sent by St. Peter to preach, is said to have restored to life at Tulle the son of the Roman governor, Nerva, and to have covered the neighbouring country with churches. The building of churches, however, was not possible until the fourth century.
Some legends name St. Martin of Tours as founder of the Abbey of Tulle, others St. Calmin, Count of Auvergne (seventh century). Robbed of its possessions by a powerful family, the Counts of Querci, the abbey recovered them in 930 through the efforts of a member of the same family, Viscount Adhemar.St. Odo, Abbot of Cluny, reformed the abbey in 928–929, along the lines of Cluny, where the abbot was elected by the monks, not provided by some powerful local family.
Pope John XXII by a Bull dated 13 August 1317, separated the Abbey of Tulle from the jurisdiction of the diocese of Limoges and raised it to episcopal rank; but the Chapter of the new cathedral continued to observe the Rule of St. Benedict, and was not transformed into a college of secular Canons until 1514. The Chapter dignitaries included: a Dean, a Provost, a Treasurer and a Cantor. The new Chapter of Secular Canons was authorized to have sixteen canons, and to create twelve choral vicars (which they were unable to do, because of financial constraints); by the eighteenth century there were only twelve canons. Abbot Arnaud of Tulle was named the first bishop of Tulle. Pope John also raised Tulle from the rank of a town to that of a city, and gave the Bishops of Tulle the title of Vicomte.