The Diocese of Verdun ( la, Dioecesis Virodunensis; french: Diocèse de Verdun) is a
Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or
diocese of the
Catholic Church in
France. It is a
suffragan diocese
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...
in the
ecclesiastical province of the
metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
Archdiocese of Besançon. The Diocese of Verdun corresponds to the ''
département'' of
Meuse in the ''
région
France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...
'' of
Lorraine. The diocese is subdivided into 577 parishes.
History
The diocese dates back to the 4th century. Traditionally the city was first evangelized around 332 by
St Sanctinus, Bishop of
Meaux, who became the first bishop. Sanctinus erected the first Christian oratory dedicated to
St. Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupation ...
and
St. Paul.
"Other bishops worthy of mention are: St. Possessor (470–486); St. Firminus (486–502);
St. Vitonus (Vanne) (502–529); St. Désiré (Desideratus) (529–554),
St. Agericus (Airy) (554–591), friend of St.
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
and of Fortunatus;
St. Paul (630–648), formerly Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of
Tholey in the Diocese of Trier; and St. Madalvaeus (Mauve) (753–776)."
Until 1801 Verdun was part of the
ecclesiastical province of the
Archbishop of Trier. On November 29, 1801 it was suppressed and added to the
Diocese of Nancy
The Diocese of Nancy and Toul (Latin: ''Dioecesis Nanceiensis et Tullensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Nancy et de Toul'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. After a considerable political strugg ...
. On October 6, 1822 the diocese was re-established.
After the Concordat

* 1823–1830: Etienne-Bruno-Marie d'Arbou
* 1826–1831: François-Joseph de Villeneuve-Esclapon
* 1832–1836: Placide-Bruno Valayer
* 1836–1844: Augustin-Jean Le Tourneur
* 1844–1866: Louis Rossat
* 1867–1884: Augustin Hacquard
* 1884–1887: Jean-Natalis-François Gonindard
* 1887–1901: Jean-Pierre Pagis
* 1901–1909:
Louis-Ernest Dubois
Louis-Ernest Dubois (1 September 1856 – 23 September 1929) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Paris. He played a leading role in the period of adjustment to the separation of Church and State in France.
Early life
He was born in ...
20th century
* 1910–1913: Jean Arturo Chollet
* 1914–1946: Charles-Marie-André Ginisty
* 1946–1963: Marie-Paul-Georges Petit
* 1963–1986: Pierre Francis Lucien Anatole Boillon
* 1987–1999: Marcel Paul Herriot
21st century
*From 2000 to September 2014:
François Paul Marie Maupu
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, Kin ...
*From September 2014: Jean-Paul Gabriel Émile Gusching
See also
*
Bishopric of Verdun
*
Verdun Cathedral
References
Books
*
External links
Website of the diocese
Roman Catholic dioceses in France
Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire
Dioceses established in the 4th century
4th-century establishments in Roman Gaul
{{France-RC-diocese-stub