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Roman Catholic Diocese of Nice

Diocese of Nice
Dioecesis Nicensis
Diocèse de Nice
NIKAIA-steReparate Pano.jpg
Location
Country  France
Ecclesiastical province Marseille
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Marseille
Statistics
Area 4,283 km2 (1,654 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2013)
1,210,000
778,000 (64.3%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 3rd Century
Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of St. Mary and St. Reparata in Nice
Patron saint Saint Reparata
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop André Marceau
Metropolitan Archbishop Georges Pontier
Apostolic Administrator Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau
Emeritus Bishops Louis Sankalé Bishop Emeritus (2005–2013)
Jean Marie Louis Bonfils Bishop Emeritus (1998–2005)
Map
Diocèse de Nice.svg
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nice (Latin: Dioecesis Nicensis; French: Diocèse de Nice) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the Départment of Alpes-Maritimes. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Marseille.

Bishop Louis Albert Joseph Roger Sankalé, appointed on March 28, 2005, tendered his resignation on August 8, 2013. On Thursday, March 6, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Bishop André Marceau, who until then had been serving as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan–Elne, France, as Bishop of Nice. He was installed as bishop of Nice on May 11, 2014.

According to local tradition, Nice was evangelized by St. Barnabas, who had been sent by St. Paul, or else by St. Mary Magdalen, St. Martha, and St. Lazarus (who had been resurrected from the dead by Christ himself).

St. Bassus, a martyr under Emperor Decius, is believed to have been the first Bishop of Nice. The See of Nice in Roman Gallia Narbonensis is said to have existed in 314, since the bishop sent delegates to the Council of Arles in that year. Louis Duchesne, however, pointed out that Nice was not a city (civitas) and did not have its own municipal administration. It was governed from the city of Marseille by a civic functionary called an episcopus ('overseer'). In 314, this situation was still in effect, and the delegates sent to the Council of Nicaea came from the portus of Nice, not the civitas; the delegates represented the chief civic administrator, the episcopus from Marseille. In Duchesne's view, there was not yet an ecclesiastical leader in Nice called an episcopus.


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