Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris
The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: Archidioecesis Parisiensis; French: Archidiocèse de Paris) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on October 20, 1622. Before that date the bishops were suffragan to the archbishops of Sens.
Archdiocese of Paris
Archidioecesis Parisiensis
Archidiocèse de Paris
105.4 km2 (40.7 sq mi)
(as of 2021)
2,148,271
1,304,700 (60.7%)
106
3rd century
(As Diocese of Paris)
1622
(As Archdiocese of Paris)
1,296
- Philippe Marsset
- Emmanuel Tois
Paris was a Christian centre at an early date, its first apostles being St. Denis[1] and his companions, Sts. Rusticus and Eleutherius. Until the Revolution the ancient tradition of the Parisian Church commemorated the seven stations of St. Denis, the stages of his apostolate and martyrdom:
Clovis founded, in honour of the Apostles Peter and Paul, a monastery to which the tomb of St. Genevieve drew numbers of the faithful, and in which St. Clotilde, who died at Tours, was buried.[2]
To form a conception of Paris in the tenth and eleventh centuries, one must picture a network of churches and monasteries surrounded by cultivated farm-lands on the present site of Paris. From the beginning of the twelfth century, the monastic schools of Paris were already famous. The episcopate of Maurice de Sully (1160-96), the son of a simple serf, was marked by the consecration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.[4]
The title of Duc de Saint-Cloud was created in 1674 for the archbishops.[5]
Prior to 1790 the diocese was divided into three archdeaconries: France, Hurepoix, Brie.
Until the creation of new dioceses in 1966 there were two archdeaconries: Madeleine and St. Séverin.[6] The reform reduced the diocese's size, losing the dioceses of Chartres, Orléans and Blois.[7]
Its suffragan dioceses, created in 1966 and encompassing the Île-de-France region, are Créteil, Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes, Meaux, Nanterre, Pontoise, Saint-Denis, and Versailles. Its liturgical centre is at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The archbishop resides on rue Barbet de Jouy in the 6th arrondissement, but there are diocesan offices in rue de la Ville-Eveque, rue St. Bernard and in other areas of the city. The archbishop is ordinary for Eastern Catholics (except Armenians and Ukrainians) in France.
The churches of the current diocese can be divided into several categories:
The Diocese of Paris was elevated to the rank of archdiocese on October 20, 1622.
(in French)
