The ancient residential diocese of Orange in the Comtat Venaissin in Provence, a fief belonging to the Papacy, was suppressed by the French government during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. It was revived in 2009 as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of the Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

History

The city now called

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

in southern France was called Arausio in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times. It had been founded as a retirement colony for veterans of the Roman Army who had served under Augustus during his campaigns against Marc Antony. It became the seat of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

very probably towards the end of the 3rd century: at the Synod of Arles in 314, its bishop was represented by a priest named Faustinus. The first bishop of Arausio whose name is given in extant documents was Constantius, who took part in the Council of Aquileia, 381. From the early 5th century, the see was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

. Arausio hosted two important

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

s, in 441 and 529. The

Second Council of Orange The Second Council of Orange (or Second Synod of Orange) was held in 529 at Orange, which was then part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. It affirmed much of the theology of Augustine of Hippo, and made numerous proclamations against what later would co ...

was of importance for its condemnation of what later came to be called

Semipelagianism Semi-Pelagianism (or Semipelagianism) is a Christian theological and soteriological school of thought on salvation. Semipelagian thought stands in contrast to the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation, Pelagianism (in which people are born un ...

. In 1516

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

ordered the union of the principality of Orange and the Dauphiné, the accomplishment of which was ordered by the Parliament of Grenoble in March 1517. This union made the Bishop of Orange subject as far as his temporal rights were concerned to the king of France. On 8 August 1520, King Francis granted Bishop Guillaume Pélissier an extra six months to make his submission to the ''Chambre des comptes'' of the Dauphiné. In accordance with the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

attached the territory of the diocese to the

archdiocese of Avignon The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the ter ...

by the papal bull ''Qui Christi Domini'' of 29 November 1801. In 1817, after the fall of the Emperor Bonaparte and the return of the Bourbon monarchy, it was planned to restore the residential status of the bishopric in accordance with a new

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

, but the French parliament refused to ratify the concordat. The ancient see of Arausio, therefore, is no longer a residential bishopric. In January 2009 Pope Benedict XVI revived the title for use as a titular see, for auxiliary bishops of other dioceses and for curial bureaucrats to whom episcopal status is granted. The title currently (since 27 January 2012) belongs to Archbishop

Julio Murat Julio Murat (born on 18 August 1961 in Izmir, Turkey) is a Turkish prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Julio Murat began his preparation for the priesthood in Rome, where on 25 May 1 ...

, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and to Equatorial Guinea since 2018.

Bishops

To 1000

A list of names of bishops before 347 was invented by

Polycarpe de la Rivière Dom Polycarpe de la Rivière was Carthusian prior of the 17th century, historian and scholar with a fertile imagination. Much of his life is surrounded in mystery and although he wrote biographies on numerous church identities he is considered ge ...

but is unsupported by any evidence. *Faustinus in 314 attended the

Council of Arles Arles (ancient Arelate) in the south of Roman Gaul (modern France) hosted several councils or synods referred to as ''Concilium Arelatense'' in the history of the early Christian church. Council of Arles in 314 The first council of Arles"Arles, S ...

as a cleric accompanying the unnamed bishop of Orange, the first recorded bishop of Orange. *? Aristonus, 347 *? Eradius, c. 356 *Constantius 381 *Marin, 433 *Justus, c. 440-c.455 *

Eutropius of Orange Eutropius of Orange (french: link=no, Saint Eutrope; died 475) was bishop of Orange, France, during the 5th century and probably since 463, in succession to Justus. Life Eutropius was born to the nobility, in Marseille, where he spent a wild an ...

, c. 455-475 *Verus *

Florentius of Orange Saint Florentius of Orange (french: Florent d'Orange) was bishop of the city of Orange in France around 517–524.

, 517-524 * Vindemialis, 527-549 * Matthieu, 555 * Trapecius, 584 * Salicus, 788-798 *Damasus, c. 804 *Boniface, c. 820-839 *Laudon, c. 840 *Pons I, c. 852 *Gérard I, 855-c. 862 *Boniface II*, 860 *Oldaricus*, 866 *Gérard II, 879 *Bonnaricus I, 899 *Ebroinus, 910 *Pontius (Pons) II, 914 *Bonnaricus II*, 930 *Salitoneus*, 940 *Ingelbertus*, 952 *Richard*, 968 *Segaldus*, 980 *Bertrand*, 994 *Aldebrand I*, 1005 *Berniconius*, 1020 *Aldebrand II*, 1026 *Pons III*, 1032 The last ten bishops of the 10th and 11th centuries are completely unattested.

1000 to 1300

*Odalric c.1040 *Martin 1058 *Geraldus de Asteri (Géraud) c.1060 *

Guillaume I William Longsword (french: Guillaume Longue-Épée, nrf, Willâome de lon Espee, la, Willermus Longa Spata, on, Vilhjálmr Langaspjót; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.Det ...

c.1080-1098 *Bérenger 1107-1127 *Gérard 1128-1129 *Guillaume II 1130-1138 *Guillaume III 1139-1140 *Bernard 1141-c.1170 *Pierre I 1173 *Hugues Florent c.1180 *Arnoul 1182 - after 1204 *Guillaume Elie after 1204-1221 *Amicus 1222-c.1240 *Pierre II c.1240-1271 *Josselin 1272-c.1278 *Guillaume D'Espinouse 1281-1321

1300 to 1500

*Rostaing I 1322-1324 *Hugues 1324-1328 *Pierre III 1329-1342 *Guillaume VII 1343-1348 *Jean de Revol 1349-1350 *Guillaume VIII 1350-1351 *François de Caritat 1373-1387 *Pierre Didaci 1389-1413 *

Pierre D'Ailly Pierre d'Ailly (; Latin ''Petrus Aliacensis'', ''Petrus de Alliaco''; 13519 August 1420) was a French theologian, astrologer and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Academic career D'Ailly was born in Compiègne in 1350 or 1351 of a prospero ...

1413-1417 (Administrator) (resigned) *Georges de Grano 1418-1420 *Guillaume IX 1420-1428 (transferred to Cassano in s. Italy) *Guillaume X 1429-v.1447 *Bertrand III 1438-v.1442 *Antoine Ferrier v.1444-1450 *Jean Payer 1454-1466 *Guyot Adhémar 1466-1468 *Jean Gobert 1468-1476 *Pierre de Surville 1476-1480 *Laurent Alleman 1481-1483 *Pierre Carré, O.P. 1483-1510

1500 to 1790

* Guillaume Pélissier 1510-1527 * Louis Pélissier 1527-1542 *

Rostaing de La Baume de Suze Rostaing is a company created in 1789 by Joseph Rostaing which was at first a tannery. History The history of Rostaing Group is deeply related to the one of the Rostaing family. Joseph Rostaing was living in Villieu-Loyes-Mollon, Villieu, a sma ...

, O.Cist. 1543-1560 * Philippe de La Chambre de Maurienne, O.S.B. 1560-1572 (resigned) * Jean de Tulles I 1572-1608 * Jean de Tulles II 1608-1640 * Jean Vincent de Tulles 1640-1647 (transferred to Lavaure) * Hyacinthe Serroni 1647-1661 (transferred to Mende) *

Alexandre Fabri Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom o ...

1661-1674 * Jean-Jacques D`ObheilHe was consecrated in Paris, in the church of the Celestines, in 1677: 1677-1720 *

Louis Chomel Louis-Armand Chomel was an 18th-century Bishop of Orange, France. He was born in 1688 and died on 25 May 1780 in Paris. He was the son of Jean Baptiste Chomel, first wikt:chamberlain, chamberlain of the Duke of Orleans. Louis-Armand Chomel was nam ...

1720-1731 * François-André de Tilly 1731-1774 * Guillaume-Louis du Tillet 1774-1790, last bishop

Notes

Bibliography

Reference works

* pp. 591–592. (Use with caution; obsolete) * (in Latin) p. 117-118. * (in Latin) p. 119. * p. 123. * p. 102. * p. 106. * p. 107. *

Studies

* * * second edition (in French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orange, Ancient Diocese of

1801 disestablishments in France Vaucluse