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Archdiocese of Besançon

Bisuntin(us)

The Archdiocese of Besancon is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France, an ancient see elevated to metropolitan rank in the 4th century. It covers the Doubs and Haute-Saone departments and the Territoire de Belfort area is its historic province. Its seat is the Cathedral of St. John in Besancon.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
2nd century
Latin
Bisuntin(us)
Patron
Immaculate Conception
Annuario code
001000893

The see in figures

Catholics
569,000
Population
617,000
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
92.2%
Priests
117
Catholics per priest
4,863
Extent
9,732 km²
Catholics per km²
58

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Archbishop
Jean-Luc Bouilleret
Born
28 October 1953
Birthplace
Arbois

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of St. John, Besancon stands in Besançon, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Besancon

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

The Archdiocese of Besançon (Latin: Archidiœcesis Bisuntina; French: Archidiocèse de Besançon), a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, takes in the département of Doubs, apart from Montbéliard, and the département of Haute-Saône, apart from the canton of Héricourt. Between 1034 and 1184 its archbishop also held civil authority within the Holy Roman Empire as the prince-archbishop of Besançon.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.