Roman Catholic Diocese of Moulins
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Diocese of Moulins Dioecesis Molinensis Diocèse de Moulins |
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| Location | |
| Country |  France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Clermont |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Clermont |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 7,381 km2 (2,850 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 351,700 ? 349,800 ? (99.5 ?%) |
| Parishes | 126 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 27 July 1817 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame in Moulins, Allier |
| Patron saint | Notre Dame |
| Secular priests | 73 (diocesan) 11 (religious Orders) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Laurent Percerou |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | François Kalist |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Moulins (Latin: Dioecesis Molinensis; French: Diocèse de Moulins) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The episcopal see is located in the city of Moulins. The diocese comprises all of the department of Allier in the region of Auvergne.
The diocese was created in 1788, but the new bishop, Étienne-Jean-Baptiste-Louis des Gallois de la Tour, although appointed by King Louis XVI on 29 May 1789, had not been approved (preconized) by Pope Pius VI before the outbreak of the French Revolution in July 1789. Under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 July 1790) there was erected a diocese of Allier, with a Constitutional Bishop resident at Moulins. The French government, however, did not have the canonical power to erect dioceses, and therefore this new diocese was in schism with Rome.
The first Constitutional Bishop, Msgr. François-Xavier Laurent, had been a curé in the diocese of Autun before becoming a member of the Estates General; after his election by the voters of Allier, he was consecrated in Paris on 6 March 1791 by Constitutional Bishop Gobel. In 1793 he abdicated and married. Laurent died in 1796, or 10 May 1821.
The appointment and consecration of Laurent, as well as the erection of the Diocese of Allier, were annulled by Pope Pius VI. Laurent's consecration was labelled blasphemous and schismatic.
Under the Concordat of 11 June 1817 the diocese of Moulins was re-established, from parts of the dioceses of Autun, Bourges, and Clermont-Ferrand, to cover the department of Allier. The implementation of the Concordat was delayed, however, by various circumstances brought about by the Hundred Days and the occupation of France by the Allies, as well as by the lack of funds both on the part of the French monarchy and the Papacy, to say nothing about the machinations of ministers and diplomats. On 6 October 1822, Pope Pius VII issued a bull which created fourteen dioceses in France, including Moulins. The first bishop was appointed in 1822, and in the same year the medieval collegiate church at Moulins was established as the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, the seat of the diocese. The diocese of Moulins was made a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Sens. This situation continued until 8 December 2002, when a major reorganization of the French diocesan structure made Moulins a suffragan of the Archbishop of Clermont.
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