See of Le Mans
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Diocese of Le Mans Dioecesis Cenomanensis Diocèse du Mans |
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| Location | |
| Country |  France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Rennes |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 6,244 km2 (2,411 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 555,000 361,900 (65.2%) |
| Parishes | 98 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 5th Century |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of St. Julian of Le Mans |
| Patron saint | St. Julian of Le Mans |
| Secular priests | 119 (diocesan) 17 (religious Orders) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Yves Le Saux |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Pierre d'Ornellas |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Mans (Latin: Dioecesis Cenomanensis; French: Diocèse du Mans) is a Roman Catholic diocese of France. The diocese is now a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo but had previously been suffragan to Bourges, Paris, Sens, and Tours (in ascending order).
The Diocese of Le Mans comprises the entire department of Sarthe, created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, pursuant to the law of 22 December 1789; the province of Maine was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west. Prior to the French Revolution it included 636 parishes and was one of the most extensive dioceses of France; at the time of the Concordat of 1801, it lost some parishes in Vendômois and Normandy and acquired some in Anjou. The Diocese of Le Mans embraced 665 communes from then up to the year 1855, when the department of Mayenne was detached from it to form the Diocese of Laval.
The origin of the Diocese of Le Mans has given rise to extensive discussions among scholars, concerning the value of the Gesta domni Aldrici, and of the Actus Pontificum Cenomannis in urbe degentium. Collectively called "the Le Mans forgeries", they were compiled in the episcopal curia at Le Mans during the episcopate of Aldric (832-857). The work of forgery extends to early charters of the diocese, and even to various saints' lives. Even the Testament of Bishop Aldric has been rewritten to conform to the purposes of the forgers: to enhance the authority of the bishop and his claims to various holdings in the diocese, notably monasteries which were normally under the protection of the King. This applied especially to the monastery of St. Calais. The claims, it should be noted, were not accepted, either by the bishops and abbots at the Council of Verberie or by Charles the Bald.
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