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Bishopric of Sion

Diocese of Sion
Dioecesis Sedunensis
Bistum Sitten (de)
Évêché de Sion (fr)
041122Cathedrale.jpg
Location
Country Switzerland
Metropolitan Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area 5,589 km2 (2,158 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2010)
309,202
235,735 (76.2%)
Parishes 158
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Latin
Established 4th century
Cathedral Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Glarier
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey
Emeritus Bishops Norbert Brunner
Cardinal Henri Schwery
Map
Map of the modern diocese of Sion within Switzerland
Map of the modern diocese of Sion within Switzerland
Website
Website of the Diocese
Prince-Bishopric of Sion or
Prince-Bishopric of Wallis
Fürstbistum Sitten (de)
Prince-Évêché de Sion (fr)
Dioecesis Sedunensis (la)
 
State of the Holy Roman Empire
999 – 1798
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem
Notre Valais (, )
Map of Switzerland in 1378, showing the Bishopric labelled Valais
Capital Sion
Languages French, Walser German
Religion Roman Catholic
Government
Bishop
 •  before 381–391 St Theodore of Octodurus
Prince-Bishop
 •  998–1017 Hugo, Count of Valais
(first Prince-Bishop)
 •  1613–38 Hildebrand II Jost
(last de facto Prince-Bishop)
 •  1790–1807 Joseph-Antoine Blatter
(last de jure Prince-Bishop)
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Bishopric founded before 381 999
 •  See moved to Sion 589
 •  Bequeathed county
    of Valais
 
around 999
 •  Became associate
    of Old Swiss Confed.
 
March 12, 1529
 •  Became republic
    under guidance of
    the Bishop
 
 
1628
 •  Foundation of
    Helvetic Republic
 
April 12, 1798 1798
 •  Entered Swiss Confed.
    as canton of Valais
 
August 4, 1815
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Upper Burgundy Kingdom of Upper Burgundy
Sieben Zenden
Helvetic Republic

The Diocese of Sion (Latin: Dioecesis Sedunensis, French: Évêché de Sion, German: Bistum Sitten) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The history of the Bishops of Sion, of the Abbey of St. Maurice of Valais as a whole are inextricably intertwined.

The see was established at Octodurum, now called Martigny, the capital of the Roman province of Alpes Poeninae. The first authentically historical bishop was Saint Theodore/Theodolus (died in 391), who was present at the Council of Aquileia in 381. He founded the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, with a small church in honor of Saint Maurice, martyred there c. 300, when he united the local hermits in a common life, thus beginning the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, the oldest north of the Alps. Theodore rebuilt the church at Sion, which had been destroyed by Emperor Maximinus at the beginning of the 4th century. At first the new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Vienne; later it became suffragan of Tarentaise.

In 589 the bishop, St. Heliodorus, transferred the see to Sion, leaving the low-lying, flood-prone site of Octodurum, where the Drance joins the Rhone. Though frequently the early bishops were also abbots of Saint-Maurice, the monastic community was jealously watchful that the bishops should not extend their jurisdiction over the abbey. Several of the bishops united both offices: Wilcharius (764-780), previously Archbishop of Vienne, whence he had been driven by the Moors; St. Alteus, who received from the pope a bull of exemption in favor of the monastery (780); Aimo II, son of Count Humbert I of Savoy, who entertained Leo IX at Saint-Maurice in 1049.


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Wikipedia

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