Diocese of Sion
| Diocese of Sion Dioecesis Sedunensis Bistum Sitten (German) Diocèse de Sion (French) | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
| |
| Location | |
| Metropolitan | Immediately Subject to the Holy See (exempt) |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 5,589 km2 (2,158 sq mi) |
| Population Total Catholics |
(as of 2020) 358,213 260,971 (72.9%) |
| Parishes | 157 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 4th century |
| Cathedral | Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Glarier |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Jean-Marie Lovey |
| Bishops emeritus | Norbert Brunner |
| Map | |
| Map of the modern diocese of Sion within Switzerland | |
| Website | |
| Website of the Diocese | |
The Diocese of Sion (Latin: Dioecesis Sedunensis, French: Diocèse de Sion, German: Bistum Sitten) is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The history of the Bishops of Sion, of the Abbey of St. Maurice, and of Valais as a whole are inextricably intertwined.
History
Early history
The see was established at Octodurum, now called Martigny, the capital of the Roman province of Alpes Poeninae. The first authentically historical bishop was Saint Theodore/Theodolus (died in 391), who was present at the Council of Aquileia in 381. He founded the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, with a small church in honor of Saint Maurice, martyred there c. 300, when he united the local hermits in a common life, thus beginning the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, the oldest north of the Alps. Theodore rebuilt the church at Sion, which had been destroyed by Emperor Maximinus at the beginning of the 4th century. At first the new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Vienne; later it became suffragan of Tarentaise.
In 589 the bishop, St. Heliodorus, transferred the see to Sion, leaving the low-lying, flood-prone site of Octodurum, where the Drance joins the Rhone. Though frequently the early bishops were also abbots of Saint-Maurice, the monastic community was jealously watchful that the bishops should not extend their jurisdiction over the abbey. Several of the bishops united both offices: Wilcharius (764-780), previously Archbishop of Vienne, whence he had been driven by the Moors; St. Alteus, who received from the pope a bull of exemption in favor of the monastery (780); Aimo II, son of Count Humbert I of Savoy, who entertained Leo IX at Saint-Maurice in 1049.
Prince-bishops
About 999, the last king of Upper Burgundy, Rudolph IV, granted the Countship of Valais to Bishop Hugo (998-1017); this union of the spiritual and secular powers made the prince-bishop the most powerful ruler in the valley of the Upper Rhone, the region called the Valais. Taking this donation as a basis, the bishops of Sion extended their secular power, and the religious metropolis of the valley became also the political center. However, the union of the two powers was the cause of violent disputes in the following centuries. For, while the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishop, as Bishop of Sion, extended over the whole valley of the Rhone above Lake Geneva, the Countship of Valais included only the upper part of the valley, reaching to the confluence of the Trient and the Rhone. The attempts of the bishops of Sion to carry their secular power farther down the Rhone were bitterly and successfully opposed by the abbots of Saint-Maurice, who had obtained large possessions in Lower Valais.
The medieval bishops of Sion were generally appointed from the younger sons of noble families of Savoy and Valais and often drew the resources of the see into the feuds of these families. Moreover, the bishops were vigorously opposed, as a matter of principle, by the petty feudal nobles of Valais, each in their fortified castle on rocky heights, seeking to evade the supremacy of the bishop who was at the same time count and prefect of the Holy Roman Empire. Especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, the benefactors in these traditional struggles were often the rich peasant communities of Upper Valais, which were called later the Sieben Zehnden (the "seven tithings"), who exacted increasing political rights as the price of support, beginning with the success of the rebellion of 1415–1420. Bishop William IV of Raron (1437-1457) was obliged to relinquish civil and criminal jurisdiction over the sieben Zehnten by the Treaty of Naters in 1446, while a revolt of his subjects compelled Bishop Jost of Silinen (1482-1496) to flee from the diocese. In 1428-1447, the Valais witch trials raged through the area.
The bishops of Sion minted their own money from earliest times, possibly from as early as the Carolingian era, and certainly from the 11th century. In the early 17th century, the Seven Tithings began to mint their own coin, which was vigorously opposed by the bishops until they finally had to cede temporal power to the Republic in 1634.[1]
Sion and the district of the Valais were constantly drawn into wider struggles. Walter II of Supersaxo (1457-1482) had taken part in the battles of the Swiss against Charles the Bold of Burgundy and his ally, the Duke of Savoy, and in 1475 they drove the House of Savoy from Lower Valais. Linked to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 15th century, the Valais region was for long divided between the French party (typified by Georg of Supersaxo) and the Burgundian-Milanese alliance, to which a powerful personage, Cardinal Matthaeus Schiner (1465-1522), bishop of Sion, had thrown his support. Schiner feared French supremacy enough to place the military force of the diocese at the disposal of the pope and in 1510 brought about an alliance for five years between the Swiss Confederacy and the Roman Church, only to end up as one of the biggest losers in the Swiss defeat at Marignano in 1516, in which the bishop fought himself. In return for his support, Julius II made Schiner a cardinal and in 1513 accepted direct control of the see, which gave the Bishops of Sion much of the authority of an archbishop. The defeat at Marignano and the arbitrary rule of his brothers led to a revolt of Schiner's subjects; in 1519 he was obliged to flee the diocese.
Reformation
The new doctrines of the Reformation found little acceptance in Valais, although preachers were sent into the canton from Bern, Zürich, and Basel. In 1529 Bishop Adrian I of Riedmatten (1529-1548), the cathedral chapter, and the sieben Zehnten formed an alliance with the Catholic cantons of the Confederation, to maintain and protect the Catholic faith against the efforts of the Reformed cantons. On account of this alliance Valais aided in gaining the victory of the Catholics over the followers of Zwingli at Kappel am Albis in 1531; this victory saved the remaining possessions of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. The abbots of Saint-Maurice opposed all religious innovations as energetically as did Bishops Adrian I of Riedmatten, Hildebrand of Riedmatten (1565-1604), and Adrian II of Riedmatten (1604-1613), so that the whole of Valais remained ostensibly Catholic. Both Adrian II and his successor Hildebrand Jost (1613-1638) were again involved in disputes with the sieben Zehnten in regard to the exercise of the rights of secular supremacy, which were finally settled in 1630, when the Bishops relinquished their territorial rule.
Impact of the French Revolution
The secular power of the bishops was brought to an end by the French Revolution. In 1798 Valais, after a struggle against the supremacy of France, was incorporated into the Helvetic Republic, and Prince-bishop Joseph Anton Blatter (1745-1807) went into exile in Novara. During the sway of Napoleon the Valais was separated from Switzerland in 1802 as the Rhodanic Republic, and in 1810 was annexed by France.
19th century
In 1813 Valais threw off French supremacy, when the Allies entered the territory; in 1814 it joined Switzerland as one of the cantons. As partial compensation for the loss of his secular power, the bishop received a post of honour in the Diet of the canton and the right to four votes. Disputes often arose as the Constitution of 1815 of the canton gave Upper Valais political predominance in the cantonal government, notwithstanding the fact that its population was smaller than that of Lower Valais. This led in 1840 to a civil war with Lower Valais, where the "Young Swiss" party, hostile to the Church, was in control. The party friendly to the Church prevailed, and the influence of the Church over teaching was, at first, preserved, but on account of the defeat of the Sonderbund, with which Valais had united, a radical Government gained control in 1848. The new administration at once showed itself unfriendly to the Church, secularized many church landed properties, and wrung large sums of money from the bishop and monasteries. When in 1856 the moderate party gained the cantonal election, negotiations were begun with Bishop Peter Joseph von Preux (1843-1875), and friendly relations were restored between the diocese and the canton. In 1880 the two powers came to an agreement as to the lands taken from the Church in 1847; these, so far as they had not been sold, were given back for their original uses.
Recent history
In modern times the bishop and the government have been on friendly terms, under the Constitution of 1907 that, while it declared the Catholic religion to be the religion of the canton, forbade any union of spiritual and secular functions.
Library of the cathedral chapter
The library of Sion is known above all for its 120 medieval codices, dating from the mid-9th century to the late 15th century, some richly illuminated, published by Josef Leisibach and Albert Jörger. The library was in the care of the sacristan of the cathedral chapter of canons. He also was responsible for the security of the treasury. From the 12th century, the chapter was responsible for the Bishop's chancellery and kept the archives; doubtless there was a modest scriptorium. The library was enriched by donations from canons and in the 15th century from bishops: Guillaume VI de Rarogne (1437-1451), Jost de Silenen (1482-1496) and above all Walter Supersaxo (1457-1482) who possessed a rich library of canon law.[2]
See also
- List of Bishops of Sion
- Prince-Bishopric of Basel
- Prince-Bishopric of Chur
- Prince-Bishopric of Lausanne
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienne
- Duchy of Savoy
- History of the Valais
Canonical status and jurisdiction
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[3]
External links
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Diocese of Sion — (Sedunensis). A Swiss bishopric, depending directly on the Holy See.
History
The Diocese of Sion is the oldest in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps. At first its see was at Octodurum, now called Martinach, or Martigny. According to tradition there was a Bishop of Octodurum, named Oggerius, as early as A.D. 300. However, the first authenticated bishop is St. Theodore (d. 391), who was present at the Council of Aquileia in 381. On the spot where the Abbey of Saint-Maurice now stands he built a church in honour of St. Mauritius, martyred here about 300. He also induced the hermits of the vicinity to unite in a common life, thus beginning the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, the oldest north of the Alps. Theodore rebuilt the church at Sion, which had been destroyed by Emperor Maximianus at the beginning of the fourth century. At first the diocese was a suffragan of Vienne; later it became suffragan of Tarentaise. In 589 the bishop, St. Heliodorus, transferred the see to Sion, as Octodurum was frequently endangered by the inundations of the Rhone and the Drance. There were frequent disputes with the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, who were jealously watchful that the bishops should not extend their jurisdiction over the abbey. Several of the bishops united both offices, as: Wilcharius (764-80), previously Archbishop of Vienne, from which he had been driven by the Saracens; St. Alteus, who received from the pope a Bull of exemption in favour of the monastery (780); Aimo II, son of Count Hubert of Savoy, who entertained Leo IX at Saint-Maurice in 1049.
The last king of Upper Burgundy, Rudolph III, granted the Countship of Valais to Bishop Hugo (998- 1017); this union of the spiritual and secular powers made the bishop the most powerful ruler in the valley of the Upper Rhone. Taking this donation as a basis, the bishops of Sion extended their secular power, and the religious metropolis of the valley became also the political centre. However, the union of the two powers was the cause of violent disputes in the following centuries. For, while the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishop extended over the whole valley of the Rhone above Lake Geneva, the Countship of Valais included only the upper part of the valley, reaching to the confluence of the Trient and the Rhone. The attempts of the bishops of Sion to carry their secular power farther down the Rhone were bitterly and successfully opposed by the abbots of Saint-Maurice, who had obtained large possessions in Lower Valais. The medieval bishops of Sion belonged generally to noble families of Savoy and Valais and were often drawn into the feuds of these families. Moreover the bishops were vigorously opposed by the petty feudal nobles of Valais, who, trusting to their fortified castles on rocky heights, sought to evade the supremacy of the bishop who was at the same time count and prefect of the Holy Roman Empire. Other opponents of the bishops were the flourishing peasant communities of Upper Valais, which were called later the sieben Zehnten (seven-tenths). Their struggles with Savoy forced the bishops to grant continually increasing political rights to the peasant communities. Thus Bishop William IV of Raron (1437-57) was obliged to relinquish civil and criminal jurisdiction over the sieben Zehnten by the Treaty of Naters in 1446, while a revolt of his subjects compelled Bishop Jost of Silinen (1482-96) to flee from the diocese. Walter II of Supersax (1457-82) took part in the battles of the Swiss against Charles the Bold of Burgundy and his confederate, the Duke of Savoy, and in 1475 drove the House of Savoy from Lower Valais. The most important bishop of this era was Matthew Schinner (1499-1522), a highly cultivated Humanist. Bishop Schinner, fearing that French supremacy would endanger the freedom of the Swiss, placed the military force of the diocese at the disposal of the pope and in 1510 brought about an alliance for five years between the Swiss Confederacy and the Roman Church. In return for this Julius II made the bishop a cardinal. In 1513 the bishop had succeeded in having his diocese separated from the Archdiocese of Tarentaise and placed directly under the control of the pope. The defeat of the Swiss in 1515 at the battle of Marignano, at which Schinner himself fought, weakened his position in the diocese, and the arbitrary rule of his brothers led to a revolt of his subjects; in 1518 he was obliged to leave the diocese.
The new doctrines of the Reformation found little acceptance in Valais, although preachers were sent into the canton from Berne, Zurich, and Basle. In 1529 Bishop Adrian I of Riedmatten (1529-48), the cathedral chapter, and the sieben Zehnten formed an alliance with the Catholic cantons of the Confederation, the purpose of which was to maintain and protect the Catholic Faith in all the territories of the allied cantons against the efforts of the Reformed cantons. On account of this alliance Valais aided in gaining the victory of the Catholics over the followers of Zwingli at Cappel in 1531; this victory saved the possessions of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. The abbots of Saint-Maurice opposed all religious innovations as energetically as did Bishops Adrian I of Riedmatten, Hildebrand of Riedmatten (1565-1604), and Adrian II of Riedmatten (1604-13), so that the whole of Valais remained Catholic. Both Adrian II and his successor Hildebrand Jost (1613-38) were again involved in disputes with the sieben Zehnten in regard to the exercise of the rights of secular supremacy. In order to put an end to these quarrels and not to endanger the Catholic Faith he relinquished in 1630 the greater part of his rights as secular suzerain, and the power of the bishop was thereafter limited almost entirely to the spiritual sphere.
The secular power of the bishops was brought to an end by the French Revolution. In 1798 Valais, after an heroic struggle against the supremacy of France, was incorporated into the Helvetian Republic, and Bishop John Anthony Blatter (1790-1817) retired to Novara. During the sway of Napoleon Valais was separated from Switzerland in 1802 as the Rhodanic Republic, and in 1810 was united with France. Most of the monasteries were suppressed. In 1814 Valais threw off French supremacy, when the Allies entered the territory; in 1815 it joined Switzerland as one of the cantons. As partial compensation for the loss of his secular power the bishop received a post of honour in the Diet of the canton and the right to four votes. Disputes often arose as the Constitution of 1815 of the canton gave Upper Valais political predominance in the cantonal government, notwithstanding the fact that its population was smaller than that of Lower Valais. This led in 1840 to a civil war with Lower Valais, where the "Young Swiss" party, hostile to the Church, were in control. The party friendly to the Church conquered, it is true, and the influence of the Church over teaching was, at first, preserved, but on account of the defeat of the Sonderband, with which Valais had united, a radical Government gained control in 1847. The new administration at once showed itself unfriendly to the Church, secularized many church landed properties, and wrung large sums of money from the bishop and monasteries. When in 1856 the moderate party gained the cantonal election, negotiations were begun with Bishop Peter Joseph von Preux (1843-75), and friendly relations were restored between the diocese and the canton. In 1880 the two powers came to an agreement as to the lands taken from the Church in 1848; these, so far as they had not been sold, were given back for their original uses. Since then the bishop and the Government have been on friendly terms. The new Constitution of 1907 declares the Catholic religion to be the religion of the canton, and forbids any union of spiritual and secular functions. The ordinances regulating the election of a bishop which have been in existence from early times, at least, contradict this (see below). The present bishop is Julius Mauritius Abbet, b. 12 Sept., 1845, appointed auxiliary bishop cum jure successionis 1 Oct., 1895, succeeded to the see 26 Feb., 1901.
Statistics
The boundaries of the Diocese of Valais have hardly been changed since it was founded; the diocese includes the Upper Rhone Valley, that is, the Canton of Valais, with exception of the exempt Abbey of Saint-Maurice, and of the Catholic inhabitants of Saint-Gingolph, who belong to the French Diocese of Annecy; it also includes the parishes of Bex and Aigle that belong to the Canton of Vaud. In 1911 the diocese had 11 deaneries, 125 parishes, 70 chaplaincies, 208 secular priests, 135 regular priests and professed, about 120,000 Catholics. Nearly 30 per cent of the population of the diocese speak German, and nearly 65 percent French; the language of the rest of the population is Italian. The bishop is elected by the denominationally mixed Great Council from a list of four candidates presented by the cathedral chapter, and the election is laid before the pope for confirmation. The cathedral chapter consists of ten canons; in addition five rectors are included among the cathedral clergy. The clergy are trained at a seminary for priests at Sion that has six ecclesiastical professors and twelve resident students; there are also six theological students studying at the University of Innsbruck. The religious orders of men in the diocese are: Augustinian Canons, with houses on the Great St. Bernard, the Simplon, and at Martigny, containing altogether 45 priests, 6 professed and 7 lay-brothers; Capuchins, at Sion and Saint-Maurice, numbering 22 priests, 6 students of theology, and 9 lay-brothers. The exempt abbey of Augustinian Canons at Saint-Maurice contains 46 priests, 9 professed and lay- brothers. The orders and congregations of nuns in the diocese are: Bernardines at Colombay; Hospital Sisters at Sion; Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul at Saint-Maurice; Franciscan Nuns, at the same place; Sisters of Charity of the Holly Cross at Sion, Leuk, and Leukerbad; Ursuline Nuns at Sion and Brieg.
BRIGUET, Vallesia christ. seu diœc. Sedunensis hist. sacra (Sion, 1744); BOCCARD, Hist. du Valais (Geneva, 1844); BURGENER, Die Heiligen des walliser Landes (Einsiedeln, 1857); GREMAUD, CAtalogue des évêques de Sion (Lausanne, 1864); IDEM, Doc. relatifs à l'hist. du Valais (Lausanne, 1875-84); GAY, Hist. du Valais (Geneva, 1888-89); IDEM, Mélanges d'hist. valaisanne (Geneva, 1891); RAMEAU, Le Valais hist. (Sion, 1891); BÜCHI, Die kath. Kirche der Schweiz (Munich, 1902); BOURBON, L'archevêque s. Vultchaire (Fribourg, 1900); Mélanges d'hist. et d'archéol. de la soc. helvétique de Saint-Maurice (1901); GRENAT, Hist. moderne du Valais 1536-1815 (Geneva, 1904); BESSON, Recherches sur les orig. des évêchés de Genève, Lausanne, Sion, etc. (Paris, 1906); Status venerabilis cleri diœc. Sedunen. (Sion, 1911); Blätter aus der walliser Gesch. (Sion, 1899-).
References
- Back to citation Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller, Beschreibung der eydgenößischen Schau- und Denkmünzen nach den Kantonen und zugewandten Orten vol. 2, Berne (1795), 357ff.
- Back to citation "Bibliothèque du chapitre cathédral, Sion" [Cathedral Chapter Library, Sion] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2005-10-19.
- Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion, official website
External links
- Sion in the Catholic Encyclopaedia
- The Beggar and the Professor, by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie — excerpt evocatively describes Thomas Platter's tour to Sion in 1563
- Cathédrale de Sion (link dead, as at July 24, 2007)
- Kirsten Groß-Albenhausen (1996). "Theodor (Theodolus, Theodulus, St. Joder, Jodern, frz. Théodule, rätoroman. Sogn Gioder), Bischof von Octodurus (Martigny, Martinach)". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 11. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 881–884. ISBN 3-88309-064-6.