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Diocese of La Rochelle

Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes
Dioecesis Rupellensis et Santonensis
Diocèse de La Rochelle et Saintes
Cathédrale Saint-Louis facade.jpg
Location
Country  France
Ecclesiastical province Poitiers
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Poitiers
Statistics
Area 6,863 km2 (2,650 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2013)
616,708
397,000 (64.4%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 22 January 1852
Cathedral Cathedral of St. Louis in La Rochelle
Co-cathedral Co-Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Saintes
Patron saint St. Eutropius of Saintes
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Georges Colomb
Metropolitan Archbishop Pascal Wintzer
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes (Latin: Dioecesis Rupellensis et Santonensis; French: Diocèse de La Rochelle et Saintes) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the département of Charente-Maritime. Suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bordeaux, the episcopal see is La Rochelle Cathedral. Saintes Cathedral is co-Cathedral of the diocese.

The Diocese of La Rochelle was erected on 4 May 1648. The Diocese of Maillezais was transferred on 7 May 1648, to La Rochelle. This diocese before the French Revolution, aside from Maillezais, included the present arrondissements of Marennes, Rochefort, La Rochelle, and a part of Saint-Jean-d'Angély.

During the French Revolution, the Diocese of Saintes and the Diocese of La Rochelle were combined into the Diocese of Charente-Inferieure, under the direction of a Constitutional Bishop, salaried by and responsible to the French Republic. There was a schism with Rome and the Pope. On 15 July 1801, Pope Pius VII signed a new Concordat with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who had overthrown the Directorate in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799); the terms included the suppression of the Dioceses of Saintes and Luçon, which was carried out on 29 November 1801. The entire territory of the former Diocese of Saintes, except for the part in Charente belonging to the Diocese of Angoulême, and the entire Diocese of Luçon, were added to the Diocese of La Rochelle.


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