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Roman Catholic Diocese of Nantes

Diocese of Nantes
Dioecesis Nannetensis
Diocèse de Nantes
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Nantes - façade.jpg
Location
Country  France
Ecclesiastical province Rennes
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo
Statistics
Area 6,980 km2 (2,690 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2013)
1,303,103
912,172 (70.0%)
Parishes 79 'new parishes'
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 4th Century
Cathedral Cathedral of St. Peter in Nantes
Patron saint St. Donatian and St. Rogatian
Secular priests 352 (diocesan)
50 (Religious Orders)
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Jean-Paul James
Metropolitan Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas
Emeritus Bishops Georges Pierre Soubrier Bishop Emeritus (1996-2009)
Map
Diocèse de Nantes.svg
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nantes (Latin: Dioecesis Nannetensis; French: Diocèse de Nantes) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Nantes, France. The diocese consists of the department of Loire-Atlantique. It has existed since the 4th century. It is now suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, having previously been suffragan to the Archdiocese of Tours. Its see is Nantes Cathedral, in the city of Nantes. Georges Pierre Soubrier was the bishop since his appointment in 1996 until his retirement on 8 July 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed Jean-Paul André Denis Marcel James, as new Head of the Diocese. Prior to his new appointment, Bishop James had been the bishop of Diocese of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis.

According to late traditions, Saint Clarus (Saint Clair), first Bishop of Nantes, was a disciple of Saint Peter. De la Borderie, however, has shown that the ritual of the Church of Nantes, drawn up by Helius the precentor in 1263, ignores the apostolic mission of Saint Clarus, and also that Saint Peter's nail in Nantes Cathedral was not brought there by Saint Clarus, but at a time subsequent to the invasions of the Northmen in the 10th century. He showed further that Saint Felix, writing with six other bishops in 567 to Saint Radegund, attributed to Saint Martin of Vertou the chief role in the conversion of the Nantais to Christianity, and that the traditions concerning the mission of Saint Clarus are later than 1400.


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