Diocese of Blois
Blesen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Blois, France
The Diocese of Blois is a Latin rite diocese covering the Loir-et-Cher department in central France, erected on 1 July 1697 from the Diocese of Chartres. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tours. Its seat is the Cathedral of St. Louis in Blois.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1 July 1697
- Latin
- Blesen(sis)
- Patron
- St. Louis IX of France
- Annuario code
- 001000912
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 187,000
- Population
- 343,000
- Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
- 54.5%
- Priests
- 50
- Catholics per priest
- 3,740
- Extent
- 6,422 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 29
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
- Bishop
- Francis Bestion
- Born
- 8 May 1957
- Birthplace
- Fontans
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. Louis, Blois stands in Blois, 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 Tours
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Tours.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of BourgesBourges
- Archdiocese of ToursTours
- Diocese of ChartresChartres
- Diocese of OrléansOrléans
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
In western France, the department of Loir-et-Cher forms the territory of the Diocese of Blois (Latin: Dioecesis Blesensis; French: Diocèse de Blois), a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church that has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tours since 2002. The episcopal seat is presently vacant, following the appointment of Jean-Pierre Batut as auxiliary bishop of Toulouse on 26 June 2023. In 2022 the diocese counted one priest for every 2,833 Catholics.
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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.