Diocese of Quimper (–Cornouaille) and Léon Dioecesis Corisopitensis (–Cornubiensis) et Leonensis Diocèse de Quimper (–Cornouaille) et Léon |
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Location | |
Country | France |
Ecclesiastical province | Rennes |
Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo |
Statistics | |
Area | 6,785 km2 (2,620 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2014) 899,870 733,000 (81.5%) |
Parishes | 323 |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 5th Century as Diocese of Quimper 23 November 1853 (As Diocese of Quimper-Léon) |
Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of St. Corentin in Quimper |
Patron saint | St. Corentin of Quimper |
Secular priests | 239 (diocesan) 32 (religious) |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Laurent Dognin |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Pierre d'Ornellas |
Website | |
Website of the Diocese |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Quimper (–Cornouaille) and Léon (Latin: Dioecesis Corisopitensis (–Cornubiensis) et Leonensis; French: Diocèse de Quimper (–Cornouaille) et Léon) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. In 1853, the name was changed from the Diocese of Quimper (–Cornouaille) to the Diocese of Quimper (–Cornouaille) and Léon.
Originally established in the 5th century, the diocese was dismantled during the anti-clericalism of the French Revolution. It was restored by the Concordat of 1801, as the combination of the Dioceses of Quimper, Saint-Pol-de-Léon and Tréguier in Brittany, France. Traditionally, it formed part of Lower Brittany. It now covers an area of 7,029 km². (2,714 square miles), and contains a population of 852,685, of whom 750,000 (88%) are Catholic.
The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo. The current bishop is Laurent Marie Bernard Dognin.
Two versions of the catalogue of the Bishops of Quimper are known: one is from the twelfth century and is held by the Cartulary of Quimperlé; the other is preserved in a Quimper Cartulary of the fifteenth century. Both mention a St. Chorentius as first Bishop of Quimper. His hagiography, however, was developed relatively late in church history. Nothing accurate is known about him, but he is supposed by some to have been ordained by St. Martin of Tours in the fourth century, while others claim that he was a sixth-century monk. Duchesne points out that, before the eleventh century, control of the list of Bishops of Quimper is "très difficile". External material to provide verification is lacking. The tale of Saint-Guénolé (Winwaloe) (ca. 460–532), the alleged first Abbot of Landevennec, is, as Robert Latouche has shown, devoid of historical merit, and the documents on which it depends complete forgeries.