Diocese of Soissons
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Diocese of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin Dioecesis Suessionensis, Laudunensis et Sanquintinensis Diocèse de Soissons, Laon et Saint-Quentin |
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| Location | |
| Country |  France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Reims |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Reims |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 7,378 km2 (2,849 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2014) 559,000 (est.) 404,400 (72.3%) |
| Parishes | 43 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | Name Changed: 11 June 1901 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of St. Gervase and St. Protais in Soissons |
| Patron saint | St. Gervasius and St. Protasius |
| Secular priests | 75 (diocesan) 12 (Religious Orders0 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Renauld de Dinechin |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Thierry Jordan |
| Emeritus Bishops | Marcel Paul Herriot Bishop Emeritus (1999-2008) |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin (Latin: Dioecesis Suessionensis, Laudunensis et Sanquintinensis; French: Diocèse de Soissons, Laon et Saint-Quentin) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Reims and corresponds, with the exception of two hamlets, to the entire Department of Aisne. The current bishop is Renauld Marie François Dupont de Dinechin, appointed on 30 October 2015. In the diocese of Soissons there is one priest for every 4,648 Catholics.
Traditions make St. Sixtus and St. Sinicius the earliest apostles of Soissons as envoys of St. Peter. In the 280's the Caesar Maximian, the subordinate of the Emperor Diocletian, and his Praetorian Prefect Riccius Varus campaigned in northeast Gaul and subdued the Bagaudae, an event accompanied by much slaughter. There were also executions of Christians from Trier to Reims.St. Crepinus and St. Crepinianus, martyrs, (c. 288) are patrons of the diocese. According to Louis Duchesne, the establishment of a see at Soissons dates from about 300.
The territory of Soissons and Laon played an important political part under the Merovingians. After the death of Clovis (511), Soissons was the capital of one of the four kingdoms into which his states were divided. The kingdom of Soissons, which ceased to exist in 558, when Clotaire I reunited all the Frankish states, came into being again in 561 when the death of Clotaire led to a redivision of the territory. It finally disappeared in 613 when the Frankish lands were once more reunited under Clotaire II.
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