Roman Catholic Diocese of Cahors

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cahors, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The diocese comprises the whole of the department of Lot.

In the beginning it was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bourges and later, from 1676 to the time of the French Revolution, of the archdiocese of Albi. From 1802 to 1822 Cahors was under the Archbishop of Toulouse, and combined the former Diocese of Rodez with a great part of the former diocese of Vabres and diocese of Montauban. However, in 1822 it was restored almost to its pristine limits and again made suffragan to Albi.

History

According to a tradition connected with the legend of St. Martial, this saint, deputed by St. Peter, came to Cahors in the first century and there dedicated a church to St. Stephen, while his disciple, St. Amadour (Amator), the Zaccheus of the Gospel and husband of St. Veronica, evangelized the diocese. In the seventeenth century these traditions were closely examined by the Abbé Antoine Raymond de Fouillac, a friend of Fénelon, and, according to him, the bones discovered at Rocamadour in 1166, and looked upon as the relics of Zaccheus, were in reality the bones of St. Amator, Bishop of Auxerre.

A legend written about the year 1000 by the monks of Saint-Genou Abbey (in the Diocese of Bourges) relates that Genitus and his son Genulfus were sent to Gaul by Pope Sixtus II (257-59), and that Genulfus (Genou) was the first Bishop of Cahors. But Louis Duchesne repudiated this as legend.

The first historically known Bishop of Cahors is St. Florentius, correspondent of St. Paulinus of Nola (end of the fourth century). The Diocese of Cahors counted among its bishops:

• St. Alithus (fifth century);
• St. Maurilio and St. Ursinicus (sixth century);
• St. Rusticus, who was assassinated, his brother, St. Desiderius (Didier), the steward of King Dagobert, and St. Capuanus (seventh century);
• St. Ambrosius (eighth century);
• St. Gausbert (end of tenth century);
• Guillaume de Cavaillon (1208–34), who took part in the Albigensian crusade;
• Hugues Géraud (1312–16), implicated in the conspiracy against John XXII and sentenced to be burned alive;
• Bertrand de Cardaillac (1324–64) and Bégon de Castelnau (1366–87), both of whom contributed to free Quercy from English rule;
• Alessandro Farnese (1554–57), nephew of Pope Paul III;
• the Venerable Alain de Solminihac (1636–59), one of the most active reformers of the clergy in the seventeenth century
• Louis-Antoine de Noailles (1679–80), subsequently Archbishop of Paris.

The city of Cahors, visited by Pope Callistus II (1119–24), was the birthplace of Jacques d'Euse (1244–1334), who became pope in 1316 under the title of John XXII, and the tower of whose palace is still to be seen in Cahors. He built a university there, its law faculty being so celebrated as to boast at times of 1200 pupils. Fénelon studied at this institution, which, in 1751, was annexed to the University of Toulouse. In the sixteenth century the Diocese of Cahors was severely tried by religious wars, and the Pélegry College, which gratuitously sheltered a certain number of university students, became noted for the way in which these young men defended Cahors against the Huguenots.

Cahors Cathedral, built at the end of the eleventh and restored in the fourteenth century, has a beautiful Gothic cloister. When, in the Middle Ages, the bishops officiated in this church they had the privilege, as barons and counts of Cahors, of depositing their sword and armour on the altar. In the diocese special homage is paid to St. Sacerdos, Bishop of Limoges, and his mother, Mundana (seventh century); Esperie (Speria), virgin and martyr (eighth century); St. Géraud, Count of Aurillac (beginning of the eleventh century); Blessed Christopher, companion of St. Francis of Assisi and founder of a Franciscan convent at Cahors in 1216, and Blessed Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, born in the village of Mongesty, 1802, and martyred in China, 1840.

The city of Figeac owed its origin to a Benedictine abbey founded by Pepin in 755. The principal places of pilgrimage are: Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, visited by St. Louis (1245), Charles the Fair (1324), and Louis XI (1463), its bell being said to have rung miraculously several times to announce the deliverance of shipwrecked sufferers who had commended themselves to the Blessed Virgin; Notre-Dame de Félines and Notre-Dame de Verdale, both dating back to the eleventh century; Saint-Hilaire Lalbenque, where some highly-prized relics of St. Benedict Joseph Labre are preserved.

Bishops

To 1000

• Saint Genulf c. 300
• Saint Sebast c. 300
• Saint Floren c. 380
• Saint Alit c. 425
• Saint Anatol c. 450
• Boeci c. 506
• Sustraci c. 541
• Maxim c. 549
• Saint Maurilius 580
• Saint Urcis (Ursicinus) c. 585
• Eusebi 625
• Saint Rusticus 629–636
• Saint Didier of Cahors 636–655
• Beto c. 673
• Saint Capua c. 700
• Saint Ambrosi c. 745
•  ? c. 770
• Agarn c. 783
• Aimat c. 813
• Angar 813–?
• Esteve I. 852–?
• Guillem c. 875
• Guerau I. c. 887
• Saint Gausbert 892–907
• Amblard c. 909
• Bernat I. 945–?
• Frotari I. c. 961
• Esteve II. 972–?
• Frotari II. 979–?
• Gausbert II. de Gourdon c. 990

1000 to 1300

• Bernat II. de Castelnau 1005–?
• Deudonat c. 1031
• Bernat III. 1042–?
• Folc c. 1055
• Bernat IV. c. 1068
• Guerau II. c. 1077
• Géraud de Cardaillac 1083–1112
• Guillem de Calmont 1113–1143
• Guerau IV. Hector 1159–1199
• Guillem III. c. 1199
• Bartomeu c. 1207
• Guillem IV. de Cardaillac 1208–1235
• Pons d'Antejac 1235–1236
• Guerau V. Barasc 1236–1250
• Bartomeu de Roux 1250–1273
• Ramon de Cornil 1280–1293
• Sicard de Montaigu 1294–1300

1300-1500

• Ramon de Pauchel 1300–1312
• Hug Guerau 1313–1317
• Guillem V. de Labroue 1317–1324
• Bertran de Cardaillac 1324–1367
• Bec de Castelnau 1367–1388
• Francesc de Cardaillac 1388–1404
• Guillem VI. d'Arpajon 1404–1431
• Joan del Puèy 1431–1434
• Joan de Castelnau 1438–1459
• Louis d'Albret (Cardinal) 1460–1465
• Antoine d'Alamand 1465–1474
• Guiscard d'Aubusson 1474–1476
• Antoine d'Alamand (2. Mal) 1476–1493
• Benet de Joan 1494–1501

1500-1800

• Antoine de Luzech 1501–1510
• Germà de Ganay 1510–1514
• Carles Dominic de Caretto (Cardinal) 1514
• Alois de Caretto 1514–1524
• Pau de Caretto 1524–1553
• Alexander Farnese the Younger 1554–1557
• Pere de Bertrand 1557–1563
• Joan de Balaguer 1567–1576
• Antoine Hebrard de Saint-Sulpice 1577–1600
• Simó Esteve de Popian 1607–1627
• Pere Habert 1627–1636
• Alan de Solminihac 1636–1659
• Nicolau Sévin 1660–1678
• Louis-Antoine de Noailles 1679–1680 (also Archbishop of Paris and Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne)
• Enric Guillem Le Jay 1680–1693
• Enric de Briqueville de la Luzerne 1693–1741
• Bertran Joan Baptista Ramon du Guesclin 1741–1766
• Josep Dominic de Cheylus 1766–1777
• Louis Maria de Nicolai 1777–1791
• Charles-Nicolas de Bécave 1791–1802 (apostolic vicar)
• Jean d'Anglars 1791

From 1800

• Guillaume-Balthasar Cousin de Grainville (1802–1828)
• Paul Louis Joseph D'Hautpoul (1828–1842)
• Jean-Jacques-David Bardou (1842–1863)
• Joseph-François-Clet Peschoud (1863–1865)
• Pierre-Alfred Grimardias (1865–1896)
• Emile-Christophe Enard (1896–1906) (also Archbishop of Auch)
• Victor-Omésime-Quirin Laurans (1906–1911)
• Pierre-Célestin Cézerac (1911–1918) (also coadjutor Archbishop von Albi)
• Joseph-Lucien Giray (1918–1936)
• Jean-Joseph-Aimé Moussaron (1936–1940) (also Archbishop of Albi)
• Paul Chevrier (1941–1962)
• André Bréheret(1962–1972)
• Joseph-Marie-Henri Rabine (1973–1986) (also Archbishop of Albi)
• Maurice-Adolphe Gaidon (1987–2004)
• Norbert José Henri Turini (2004–present)

External links

• "Diocese of Cahors". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03141a.htm. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Diocese of Cahors". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.