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Diocese of Laval

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Diocese of Laval
Dioecesis Valleguidonensis
Diocèse de Laval
Laval Cathedral
Laval Cathedral
Location
Country France
Ecclesiastical province Rennes
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rennes
Statistics
Area 5,175 km2 (1,998 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2021)
307,084
282,200 (est.) (91.9%)
Parishes 31 'new parishes'
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 30 June 1855
Cathedral Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Laval
Patron saint Immaculate Conception
Secular priests 59 (Diocesan)
51 (Religious Orders)
23 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Matthieu Dupont
Metropolitan Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas
Map
Website
Website of the Diocese (in French)

The Diocese of Laval (Latin: Dioecesis Valleguidonensis; French: Diocèse de Laval) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is Laval Cathedral in the city of Laval. Created in June 1855, the diocese was originally erected from the Diocese of Le Mans, and corresponds to the department of Mayenne. Under the Ancien Régime the diocese of Mans had an Archdeacon of Laval, whose responsibilities extended over the deaneries of Ernée, Évrun, Laval and Mayenne.[1] The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Rennes. The current bishop is Matthieu Dupont, appointed in 2024.[2]

In 2023, in the Diocese of Laval there was one priest for every 2,729 Catholics.[3]

History

At the beginning of the Revolution, the Constituent Assembly decided that the number of dioceses in France was excessive, and that approximately fifty of them could be eliminated. Those that survived would have their boundaries changed to coincide with new departmental subdivisions of France. This was contrary to Canon Law, which reserved the creation and suppression of dioceses, as well as the appointment and transfer (translation) of bishops to the Pope. In creating the new department of Mayenne, the French government produced a territory in which there was no established bishopric. The very large former diocese of Mans (now called Sarthe) was divided, and the western half given to the diocese of Mayenne, situated at Laval. A new Metropolitanate was created (the Métropole du Nord-Ouest), with its center at Rennes,[4] embracing the department-dioceses of Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes du Nord, Finistère, Loire-Inférieure, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Morbihan, and Sarthe.[5]

Bishop of Mayenne

In March 1791 the electors of the Department of Mayenne met to elect a constitutional bishop. These electors did not need to be active members of the Roman Catholic Church, nor even Christians. The election, therefore, was blasphemous and schismatic. The office of bishop was first offered to Abbé de Vauponts, the Vicar General of the (former) diocese of Dol. After some hesitation, he refused, and won a commendation from Pope Pius VI. On 20 March, the electors then turned to Father Noel-Gabriel-Luce Villar, a native of Toulouse and teacher of rhetoric at the Collège de Toulouse, and then principal of the Collège de la Flèche.[6] He was consecrated in Paris by the Constitutional Bishop Jean-Baptiste Gobel on 22 May 1791.[7] Gobel had been consecrated titular Bishop of Lydda in 1772, and therefore the consecration of Villar was valid, though uncanonical and schismatic.[8] The new bishop returned to Laval, and was installed in the church of la Trinité, which served as a cathedral for the Constitutionals. Only twenty-two ecclesiastics signed the record.[9] Villar participated in the Legislative Assembly, and voted King Louis XVI guilty, though not requiring the death penalty. In 1794, when Reason replaced Religion in France, he abandoned his ecclesiastical activities and no longer said Mass. He did not resign his bishopric, however, until 3 October 1798, under pressure from his Metropolitan, Bishop Le Coz.[10] He died on 26 August 1826.[11]

In October 1798 Bishop Le Coz was able to authorize an election, by the priests of Mayenne, to provide a successor to Bishop Villar. They chose Charles François Dorlodot (or D'Orlodot), the curé of the church of S. Vénérand in Laval, and Bishop Le Coz confirmed the election on 6 February 1799. Dorlodot was consecrated at Laval by Le Coz and the constitutional bishops of Saint-Brieuc and Vannes on 7 April 1799. He took part in the provincial council held by Le Coz in Rennes, and then in the national council held in Paris in 1800.[12]

Restoration of papal control

On November 29, 1801, by the bull Qui Christi Domini, Pope Pius VII suppressed all of the Roman Catholic dioceses in France, and reinstituted them under papal authority.[13] The Constitutional Diocese of Mayenne (Laval) was ignored by the Vatican, which had played no part in its existence. In 1802 the French government suppressed the diocese of Mayenne (Laval),[14] and Dordolot was named a Canon of Mans. He continued to reside in Laval, however, and found employment as librarian of the École Central until 1810, when he followed his patron Le Coz to Besançon.[15] He died in Besançon on 3 January 1816.[16]

The diocese

A memorial, arguing the benefits of a new diocese, prepared by Guillaume-François d'Ozouville, was presented to the mayor and council of Laval as early as 1841, which, in due course, was submitted to the departmental Prefect.[17] In 1846 the creation of the new diocese was decided upon, but the revolution of 1848, which ended the monarchy, and replaced it with a Constituent Assembly, postponed further action. Pope Pius IX was also expelled from Rome by a republican revolution in November 1848, and sought refuge in Gaeta in the kingdom of Naples; he did not return until 1853.[18] In December 1849, the ecclesiastical provincial council met in Rennes, and was informed of the plans for a diocese at Laval. Bishop Jean-Baptiste Bouvier of Le Mans objected and opposed the plan, and nothing was accomplished until after his death, on 29 December 1854.[19] On 5 May 1855, a law was passed, authorizing the creation of a new diocese, and granting a temporary governmental subsidy of 40,000 francs. A Bull of Pope Pius IX, June 30, 1855, established the See of Laval.[20] The new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Tours.[21] The new bishop, Casimir Wicart, transferred from the diocese of Fréjus, made his solemn entry into the diocese and enthronement on 28 September 1855, in a ceremony presided over by the papal nuncio to France, Carlo Sacconi, titular archbishop of Nicaea.[22]

Chapter and cathedral

The already-existing parish church of Sainte-Trinité in Laval was designated by Pius IX to be the new cathedral of the diocese. It was to be served and administered by a Chapter, consisting of ten canons, three of whom were dignitiess: the curé, the theologus, and the penitentiarius. Provision was also made for an unlimited number of honorary canons, who however did not have voting rights in the Chapter. The cathedral remained a parish church as well, with one of the canons serving as curé.[23]

The apologist Emile Bougaud was consecrated Bishop of Laval in February 1888, and died a few months later. The demand of the Holy See in 1904 for the resignation of Bishop Pierre-Joseph Geay (1896-1904), without consultation with the French government, was one of the reasons given by the French Republic for nullifying the Concordat, breaking with the pope, and preparing the separation of Church and State.[24][25]

In August 1859 Bishop Casimir-Alexis-Joseph Wicart held a diocesan synod in the église S. Michel in Laval.[26] Bishop Grellier held a synod in November 1913.[27]

Bishops of Laval

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Laval is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[42]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Laval, Diocese of (Vallis Guidonis) includes the Department of La Mayenne. Until 1855 the territory of this diocese was annexed to Le Mans. Since the seventeenth century the creation of a See of Laval had been under consideration. A constitutional bishopric existed there for a short time during the Revolution; and two titular incumbents, Vilar and Dorlodot, occupied the position. In 1846 the creation of the see was decided upon, but was not carried out until after the death of Bishop Bouvier of Le Mans in 1854. A Bull of Pius IX, June 30, 1855, established the See of Laval. The apologist Emile Bougaud (q. v.) was consecrated Bishop of Laval in February, 1888, and died a few months later. The request of the Holy See in 1904 for the resignation of Bishop Pierre Victor Geay (1896-1904) was one of the reasons assigned by the French Republic for breaking with the pope and preparing the separation of Church and State. During the French Revolution, Laval was captured by the Vendeans on October 22, 1793, after which the diocese became the seat of the "Chouannerie", a movement similar to the Vendean but less aristocratic, the "Chouans" consisting almost entirely of peasants who wore a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on their arm or their breast and fought for the liberty of their priests and for the royalist cause, without, however, avoiding frequent acts of brigandage. They were organized into bands by a certain Jean Cottereau, called Jean Chouan (1757-1794) and after his death continued their adventurous resistance till 1796. For the principal saints venerated in the Diocese of Laval, see Diocese of Le Mans; only those whose memories are closely associated with the present confines of the diocese are here mentioned: St. Constantianus, a monk of Micy, who founded the monastery of Lassay, at the same time that St. Erneus, St. Bohemad, and St. Alveus, also monks of Micy, were founding the monasteries of Ceaulee, Saint-Bomer, Saint Auvieu in the forest of Passais, on the borders of the Departments of Mayenne and l'Orne (sixth century), the deacons Sts. Serenus and Serenic, hermits of Saulges, who belong to the seventh century. Blessed Merolus, a native of Evron and chorepiscopus of Saulges, later Bishop of Le Mans, is of the eighth century, and the hermit St. Simeon of Vauce of the ninth. Bernier (1764-1806), Bishop of Orleans, one of the negotiators of the concordat and Cardinal de Cheverus, Bishop of Boston, Mass. and Archbishop of Bordeaux (1768-1836), were natives of the diocese.

Two councils were held at Laval in 1207 and 1242 and four at Chateau Gontier in 1231, 1253, 1268 and 1336 for the restoration of discipline. The principal pilgrimages in the diocese are: Notre-Dame de Priz at Laval, a shrine of great antiquity; Notre-Dame de l'Epine at Evron. About 648 a pilgrim bearing a reliquary containing a relic of the Blessed Virgin stopped at a sanctuary which had been erected in her honor by St. Thuribius, second Bishop of Le Mans, and hung the reliquary on a hawthorn bush. Subsequent miracles, it is said, induced St. Hadouindus, Bishop of Le Mans, to build there a second shrine and a monastery. In the last half century more than 100,000 people visited Notre-Dame de l'Epine. Notre-Dame des Freux at Bellebranche, Notre-Dame d'Avenieres, and Notre-Dame de Courbefosse at Fougerolles date from the twelfth century. Notre-Dame des Bois at Contest dates from the fifteenth century. Notre-Dame de la Mariette at Beaumont, Notre-Dame de la Crue at St-Martin du Limet, and Notre-Dame du Chene at St-Martin de Connee, date from the sixteenth century. Notre-Dame de la Tremblaye at Daon (since 1660), Notre-Dame de Bon Secours at Craon Saint Nicholas (since 1709), and since 1871 two important pilgrimages, Notre-Dame Auxiliatrice de la Ducraie at Burest and Notre-Dame d'Esperance at Pontmain.

Before the application of the Associations Law of 1901, there were Jesuits, Fathers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and various orders of teaching brothers in this diocese. The Trappists are still at the monastery of Notre Dame du Port Salut, at Entrammes. The principal communities of women originating in this diocese are: the Ursulines of Chateau Gontier, founded in 1630 for teaching; the Hospitaller nuns of the Mercy of Jesus founded at Chateau Gontier in 1674; the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, hospitaller nuns founded in 1816 by Therese Agathe Rondeau, a poor working woman known as "Good Mother Therese"; the Sisters of Charity of Notre-Dame, teachers and hospitallers, founded in 1682 by Madame Thulard. The motherhouse of this community established at Evron in 1901, counts 1700 members and 184 institutions in the Diocese of Laval and 137 outside the diocese. In 1908 there remained twenty communities of women in this see. At the close of the nineteenth century the religious orders maintained here 27 infant schools, 2 institutes for the deaf and dumb, 1 orphanage for boys and 6 for girls; 4 work rooms, 12 hospitals or alms houses; 6 houses whose members care for the sick in their homes and 4 houses for retreats. In 1908 the Diocese of Laval numbered 305,457 inhabitants; 31 parishes; 265 "succursales"; 210 vicariates, and 705 secular priests.

Couanier de Launay, Vie De Mgr C. Wicart, premier évéque de Laval, et histoire de l'érection de cet évéché (Laval, 1888); Bouillier, Recherches historiques sur l'église et la paroisse de la Trinité de Laval (ibid., 1845); Couanier de Launay, Légendaire ou vies des saints du diocèse de Laval (ibid. 1891); Idem, Pèlerinages et Sanctuaires dédiés à la Sainte Vierge dans le diocèse de Laval (ibid., s. d.): Chevalier, Topobibl., pp. 1647-48.

Georges Goyau.

References

  1. Back to citation Léon Maître, Dictionnaire topographique du Département de la Mayenne (Paris: Imprimerie nationaloe 1878), p. vii.
  2. Back to citation Diocèse de Laval, Matthieu Dupont, retrieved: 2024-09-10.
  3. Back to citation "Diocese of Laval Dioecesis Valleguidonensis". catholic-hierarchy.org.
  4. Back to citation Tableau des évêques constitutionnels de France, de 1791 a 1801 (in French). Paris: chez Méquignon-Havard. 1827. pp. 20–23.
  5. Back to citation Pisani, p. 125.
  6. Back to citation Bouiller, pp. 34-38.
  7. Back to citation Tableau, p. 22. Pisani, pp. 142 and 457.
  8. Back to citation Pisani, p. 53.
  9. Back to citation Bouiller, p. 38.
  10. Back to citation Pisani, p. 143.
  11. Back to citation Tableau, p. 22.
  12. Back to citation Pisani, p. 145.
  13. Back to citation Pius VI; Pius VII (1821). Collectio (per epitomen facta,) Bullarum, Brevium, Allocutionum, Epistolarumque,... Pii VI., contra constitutionem civilem Cleri Gallicani, ejusque authores et fautores; item, Concordatorum inter... Pium VII. et Gubernium Rei publicae, in Galliis, atque alia varia regimina, post modum in hac regione, sibi succedentia; tum expostulationum... apud... Pium Papam VII., Contra varia Acta, ad Ecclesiam Gallicanam, spectantia, a triginta et octo Episcopis, Archiepiscop. et Cardinal. antiquae Ecclesiae Gallicanae, subscriptarum, etc. 6 Avril, 1803 (in Latin). London: Cox & Baylis. pp. 111–121.
  14. Back to citation Bouiller, pp. 363-368. William Henley Jervis (1882). The Gallican Church and the Revolution. London: K. Paul, Trench, & Company. pp. 375–388.
  15. Back to citation Boullier, p. 372.
  16. Back to citation Pisani, p. 146-147.
  17. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, pp. 298-301.
  18. Back to citation R. M. Johnston, The Roman Theocracy and the Republic (London 1901).
  19. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, pp. 305-311.
  20. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, pp. 619-626.
  21. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, p. 625.
  22. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, pp. 315, 317.
  23. Back to citation Couanier de Launay, pp. 315-316.
  24. Back to citation Félix Klein, "Breaking and Renewing Diplomatic Relations between France and the Holy See," Catholic World vol. 112 (New York: Paulist Press 1921), 577-587, esp. pp. 582-584.
  25. Back to citation Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Laval". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  26. Back to citation Casimir Alexis Joseph Wicart (1859). Actes du premier synode diocésain de Laval tenu dans l'église de Saint-Michel les 27, 28, et 29 août 1859 (in French). Laval: typographie de H. Godbert.
  27. Back to citation Eugène-Jacques Grellier, ed. (1914). Statuta synodalia dioecesis valleguidonensis promulgata in sessionibus 24, 25, 26 Novembris 1913 (in Latin). Laval: apud viduam A. Goupil.
  28. Back to citation E. L. Couanier de Launay (1888). Vie de Mgr. C. Wicart, Premier Évêque de Laval, et Histoire de L'érection de cet Évêché (in French). Paris. L'épiscopat français..., pp. 286–287.
  29. Back to citation Le Hardy was born in Valenciennes in 1833. He was nominated bishop of Laval by the French government on 6 June 1876, and confirmed by Pope Leo XIII on 25 June. He was consecrated by the archbishop of Paris on 24 September 1876. He died on 20 June 1886. La Gerarchia cattolica per l'anno 1882 (Roma: Monaldi 1882), p. 172. L'épiscopat français..., pp. 287–288. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 579.
  30. Back to citation Marechal was nominated by the French government on 2 May 1887, and confirmed by Pope Leo XIII on 26 May 1887. died on 21 September 1887He was consecrated on 25 July 1887. He was consecrated a bishop by the bishop of Versailles on 25 July 1887. He died on 21 September 1887. L'épiscopat français..., p. 288. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 579.
  31. Back to citation Bougard was born in Dijon in 1823. He had been Vicar-General of the bishop of Orléans. He was appointed bishop of Laval by Pope Leo XIII on 25 November 1887, having been nominated by the French government on 16 November. He was consecrated in the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix in Orléans on 3 February 1888, by the bishop of Orléans, Pierre-Hector Coullié, assisted by the bishops of Fréjus and Dijon. He died in Laval on 7 November 1888. La Gerarchia cattolica per l'anno 1888 (Roma: Monaldi 1888), p. 184. L'épiscopat français..., pp. 288–289. F. Lagrange, "Notice historique sur Mgr Louis-Émile Bougaud évêque de Laval", in: Discours de Mgr Bougaud, évêque de Laval, (in French) (Paris: Poussielgue, 1889), pp. iii-lxx. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica Vol. 8, p. 580.
  32. Back to citation Born in the diocese of Coutances, Cléret had been a teacher at the minor seminary, and was an aumonier in the French navy, and then, in the Franco-Prussian war of the army. He was appointed curé and archpriest of Nôtre-Dame-d-Saint-Lô in 1882. His bull of appointment was issued on 30 December 1889, and received officially by the French government on 11 February 1890. Bulletin des lois. Partie principale, (in French) Série XII, Volume 40 (Paris: Imprimerie nationale 1890), p. 156. Revue hebdomadaire du diocèse de Lyon 9th year vol. 2 (Lyon: Vitte & Perroussel 1889), p. 1152. L'épiscopat français..., pp. 289–290.
  33. Back to citation Geay was born in 1845 in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise (Lyon). He served as Archpriest of the Cathedral of Lyon. He was nominated Bishop of Laval on 30 May 1896, and preconised (approved) by Pope Leo XIII on 25 June. He was consecrated a bishop on 6 September 1896 in Lyon by Archbishop Pierre-Hector Couillié. He resigned on 30 August 1904, at the demand of Pope Pius X because of his support of the government in the struggle over the separation of church and state in France. He died in 1919. Albert Monniot (1901). Un préfet violet: Mgr Geay, évêque de Laval (in French). Paris: Société française d'impr. et de publicité. "Pierre-Joseph Geay". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. L'épiscopat français..., p. 290. Ritzler-Sefrin, VIII, p. 580.
  34. Back to citation Grellier was born at Joué (Maine-et-Loire) in 1850. The concordat between France and the Holy See being abrogated, Grellier was directly appointed on 21 February 1906 by Pope Pius X, and consecrated by him in the Vatican on 25 February. Grellier had been Vicar General of the diocese of Angers and Vicar General of Cardinal Mathieu. He resigned on 15 June 1936. Nos évêques en 1907: Photographies et biographies. Lille: Imprimerie de la croix du nord. 1907. p. 91.
  35. Back to citation Christian Gury (2000). L'honneur flétri d'un évêque homosexuel en 1937 (in French). Paris: Kimé. ISBN 978-2-84174-186-1.
  36. Back to citation On 19 December 1933 Richaud was named Auxiliary Bishop of Versailles and titular Bishop of Irenopolis (Turkey). He was transferred to the diocese of Laval on 27 July 1938, by Pope Pius XI. He was appointed Archbishop of Bordeaux on 10 February 1950. He was named Cardinal) by Pope John XXIII on 15 December 1958. He died in Bordeaux on 5 February 1968. Martin Bräuer (2014). Handbuch der Kardinäle: 1846-2012 (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 346. ISBN 978-3-11-026947-5.
  37. Back to citation Rousseau was born in Saint Sulpice (Blois) in 1893. He was appointed titular Bishop of Isba on 22 June 1943, and consecrated on 25 August 1943. He was appointed to the diocese of Mende on 3 November 1945, and transferred to Laval on 14 June 1950, by Pope Pius XII. On 28 February 1962 he was named titular Bishop of Ausafa (Byzacena). He died in Blois on 29 September 1967. Annuario Pontificio 1965 (Rome 1965), p. 528.
  38. Back to citation Billé was named bishop of Laval on 10 March 1984, by Pope John Paul II. He was appointed Archbishop of Aix on 5 May 1995, and Archbishop of Lyon on 10 July 1998. He was named a Cardinal by John Paul II on 21 February 2001. He died on 12 March 2002. Bräuer, p. 610. Christian Mens (2011). Eglise de Lentilly (in French). Paris: Editions Publibook. p. 323. ISBN 978-2-7483-7486-5.
  39. Back to citation Maillard was appointed bishop of Laval on 2 August 1996, and consecrated a bishop on 5 October 1996, by Archbishop Louis-Marie Billé of Aix. On 11 September 2007 Bishop Maillard was named Archbishop of Bourges.
  40. Back to citation Scherrer was named bishop of Perpignan-Elne on 11 April 2023, by Pope Francis.
  41. Back to citation Dupont was appointed bishop of Laval on 9 January 2024. Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 116 (Città del Vaticano: febbraio 2024), p. 295. Diocèse de Laval, "L’évêque de Laval. Mgr Matthieu DUPONT;" retrieved: 17 March 2025. A full biography is available by clicking on the link "Télécharger sa biographie".
  42. Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Laval, official website

Bibliography

Studies

48°04′07″N 0°46′43″W / 48.06861°N 0.77861°W

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