The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nice (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Dioecesis Nicensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Nice'') is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

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 ...

in France. The diocese comprises the Départment of Alpes-Maritimes. The diocese is a suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Marseille The Archdiocese of Marseille (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Massiliensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Marseille'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France.St. Barnabas, who had been sent by

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, or else by

St. Mary Magdalen Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

, St. Martha, and St. Lazarus (who had been raised from the dead by Christ himself). St. Bassus, a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

under

Emperor Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

(249–251), is believed by some to have been the first Bishop of Nice. There is some evidence of an organized see of Nice existing in the year 314 A.D. in Roman

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...

, since the deacon Innocent and the exorcist Agapitus, clerics from Nice, 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 ...

that year, possibly as delegates of the

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 ...

. Mgr Louis Duchesne, however, pointed out that Nice was not a city (''civitas'') and did not have its own municipal administration. It was governed from the city of Marseille by a civic functionary called an ''episcopus'' ('overseer'). In 314, this situation still obtained, and the delegates sent to the Council of Nicaea are described as coming from the ''portus'' of Nice, not the ''civitas''. It might be presumed, therefore, that they represented the chief civic administrator, the ''episcopus'' from Marseille. Hence in Duchesne's view, there was not yet an ecclesiastical superior in Nice called an ''episcopus''. The first Bishop of Nice known by name is Amantius, who attended in person the

Council of Aquileia in 381 The Council of Aquileia in 381 AD was a church synod which was part of the struggle between Arian and orthodox ideas in Christianity. It was one of five councils of Aquileia. The council was held in September 381 AD and summoned by Gratian, the W ...

, as did also the bishop of Marseilles. Duchesne considers Amantius the first known bishop, rather than Bassus.

Cimiez Cimiez (; Italian: ''Cimella'') is an upper class neighborhood in Nice, Southern France. The area contains the Musée Matisse and the ruins of ''Cemenelum'', capital of the Ancient Roman province Alpes Maritimae on the Ligurian coast. ''Cemenel ...

, a ''civitas'' near Nice, but in the province of ''Alpes Maritimae'' and indeed its largest town, is claimed to have had an episcopal see around 260, which may be the case, even though the early history of Christianity in Cimiez is probably fictitious. At any rate, the see was occupied in the mid-fifth century by St. Valerian, who was present at Church councils between 439 and 451. A rescript of

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...

(440–461), issued after AD 450, joined the two dioceses of Nice and Cimiez into one. This union was later reversed by

Pope Hilarius Pope Hilarius (or Hilary) was the bishop of Rome from 19 November 461 to his death on 29 February 468. In 449, Hilarius served as a legate for Pope Leo I at the Second Council of Ephesus. His opposition to the condemnation of Flavian of Constanti ...

, but in 465 he reunited them at the demand of Bishop Ingenuus of Embrun, the Metropolitan of the Alpes Maritimae, who was quarreling with Bishop Auxanius. in this later document Pope Hilarius' letter terms Cimiez a ''civitas'' and Nice a ''castellum'' and this episode has been interpreted as an attempt by Bishop Auxanius, who would have been Bishop of Marseille, to assert his see's control over Nice, for which he had consecrated a bishop. It should be noted, however, that this united see (Nice and Cimiez) was a suffragan of that of Embrun up to 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 ...

. During his rise to power,

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

had visited Rome in 754, and had been made Patrician of the Romans by

Pope Adrian I Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...

. It is claimed that when

happened to visit Cimiez (which had been devastated by the Lombards in 574), he caused one Bishop

Syagrius of Nice Syagrius (d. 787 or 788) was the bishop of Nice and the legendary founder and first abbot of the abbey of Saint-Pons de Cimiez. He is considered a saint by the Catholic Church and a Pre-Congregational Saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Origin ...

to build on the ruins the monastery of Saint

Pontius of Cimiez Saint Pontius of Cimiez, also known as Pons of Cimiez (french: Pons de Cimiez, Ponce de Cimiez) was a Christian saint and martyr in third century Gaul. His feast day is 14 May. Life Born at Rome into a pagan family, Pontius converted to Chri ...

. This claim presents major difficulties. There is only one source that mentions Syagrius, the ''Life'' written in the early seventeenth century by the

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

Vincenzo Barrali Salerna (fl. 1577-1613), a monk of Lerins, who states that Syagrius was Charlemagne's own ''nepos'' (paternal nephew), the Count of Brie; he found a place where the body of Saint Pons was being venerated, and got Charlemagne to build a monastery thanks to his repeated requests. Pope Adrian, in 777, his fifth year as pope, is said to have called Syagrius from his monastery and made him the first Bishop of Nice, an office he is said to have held for the last ten years of his life. By this account, Syagrius died on 23 May 787 and was buried in the abbey where he had been the first abbot. The problems begin with the brother of Charlemagne, Carloman, who was born in 751, making it most unlikely that his son Syagrius was made a bishop only twenty-six years later. Charlemagne's presence in Nice was motivated (Barrali Salerna says) by a desire to convert pagans in the area, during which he defeated the King of Chimaera (Chimeriensis). However, in reality there were no kings in the area, and most of the local people were Christians, as they had been for centuries. The claim that Charlemagne named Syagrius and his monastery Count of Cimiez, contradicts the fact that neither counts nor counties existed at that period. Nor was there ever a city of Chimaera, and the invention of its name seems to have been an erudite witticism, playing on mythological stories of fire-breathing monsters. It is highly unlikely that a Syagrius was bishop of Nice.

In the Second Millennium

The Bishops of Nice bore the title of Counts of Drap, since the donation of property situated at

Drap Drap () is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Population The inhabitants are called ''Drapois'' and ''Drapoises''. See also *Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes departmen ...

made in 1073 by Pierre,

Bishop of Vaison The Ancient Diocese of Vaison (''Lat.'' dioecesis Vasionensis) was a Roman Catholic diocese in France, suppressed in 1801, with its territory transferred to the diocese of Avignon. It had been one of nine dioceses in the ecclesiastical province pre ...

, a native of Nice, to Bishop Raymond I and his successors. In 1388 Nice fell under the political control of the Counts of Savoy, and Nice became the seat of a Seneschal. The Count (then Duke, then King of Sardinia) had the right to nominate a new bishop. On 29 March 1137

Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

issued a bull, ''Officii nostri'', confirming the privileges of the Church of Nice, including the ''castrum quod vocatur Drapum'', for Bishop Petrus. On 19 January 1183,

Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III (c. 1097 – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born of an aristocratic family of Lucca, prior to being elected pope, he had a long career as a papal diplomat. His pa ...

wrote to Bishop Petrus, complaining about the degraded state of spiritual life in the monastery of S. Pons in Nice, and authorizing the bishop to take measures to repair the situation. Despite an agreement between the bishop and the monks in 1184, the latter remained unrepentant, and were excommunicated. They complained to Pope Lucius, who sent another letter on 31 March 1185, rebuking them and supporting the bishop. In 1207 another scandal struck the diocese of Nice. Bishop Joannes was embroiled in another conflict with some religious of the diocese, and had concluded that certain documents presented by the religious were forged. They complained to

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

, who issued a mandate to the Bishop of Glandèves and the Bishop of Sénez, to investigate the documents in question and the truth of the contents, so that the Pope would know how to proceed. Before that could happen, Bishop Joannes inspected the documents again and concluded that he had been wrong in the first place; he immediately approached Fr. Pietro di Castronovo, the Apostolic legate, and explained why he had made his mistake. But it was still a false charge of forgery. Canon law on falsifications, however, was clear and precise, and the bishop went directly to the Pope, who suspended him from office and appointed commissioners, Bishop Hugh of Riez and the Abbot of Boscaud, to convince the bishop to purge himself of his offense, and then restore him to office. In 1691 Nice was seized by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, though it was restored to Savoy in 1696. It was seized again by the

Duke of Berwick Duke of Berwick () ''()'' is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of James II and VII, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Arabella Churchill. The title's name ...

in 1705, and restored to Savoy by the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

in 1713. It was attacked by the French again in 1744, and in 1792; it was united to France in 1793 and became the capital of the new Department of

Alpes Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

. The diocese was re-established by 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 ...

as 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 ...

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

. While the Countship of Nice from 1818 to 1860 was politically part of the

Sardinian States The Savoyard state is a term of art used by historians to denote collectively all of the states ruled by the counts and dukes of Savoy from the Middle Ages to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. At the end of the 17th century, its population w ...

, the see became a

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. When Nice was annexed to France in 1860, certain outlying districts which remained Italian were separated from the diocese and added to the

Diocese of Ventimiglia The Diocese of Ventimiglia-Sanremo ( la, Dioecesis Ventimiliensis-Sancti Romuli) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Liguria, northern Italy. The name of the historic Diocese of Ventimiglia (''dioecesis Albintimiliensis'', and ''Intimiliens ...

. In 1862 the diocese again became a suffragan of

. The

arrondissement of Grasse The arrondissement of Grasse is an arrondissement of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has 62 communes. Its population is 561,067 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arr ...

was separated from the

Diocese of Fréjus In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

in 1886, and given to Nice, which thereafter united the three former dioceses of Nice,

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

and

Vence Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop of Vence is Severu ...

Bishops of Nice

to 1000

: ? Bassus * ? unnamed bishop, who sent delegates to

Council of Arles (314) 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, ...

. *Amantius (381–439) : alerianus (439–455) Bishop of Cimiez : Valerius : uxanius (462–466): Dutherius *Magnus (549–581) *Austadius (c. 581) *Catulinus (585–614) *Abraham (614–?) :... :

Syagrius Syagrius (430 – 486 or 487 or 493–4) was a Roman general and the last ruler of a Roman rump state in northern Gaul, now called the Kingdom of Soissons. Gregory of Tours referred to him as King of the Romans. Syagrius's defeat by king Clovis I ...

( 77–788 *Johannes (788–791) :... *Frodonius (c. 999)

1000 to 1300

*Bernard (1004?–?) *Pons (1011–1030) *André (I) (1033–1034) *Nitard (1037–1040) *André (II) (1042–1051) *Raimond (I) (1064–1074) *Archimbaud (1074–1078) *Anselm (1100–07) *Isnard (1108–1114) *Pierre (1115–1149) *Arnaud (1151–1164) *Raimond Laugier (c. 1166) *Pierre (c. 1183–1191?) *Jean (1200–1207) *Henri (1208–1236) *Mainfroi (1238–1246) *Nitard (1247–1251) *Morardus (c. 1251– ? ) *Pierre (II) (1257–1272) *Hugues (1285–1292) *Bernard Chabaud de Tourettes (1294–1302?)

Bishops during the Avignon Papacy

*Nitard (c. 1301–c. 1311) *Raimond, O.E.S.A. (?–1316) *Guillaume, O.Min. (1317–1323) *Rostaing, O.P. (1323–1329) * Jean Artaud, O.P. (1329–1334) *Raymond, O.Min. (1334–1335) *Guillaume (1335 – 1348?) *Pierre Sardina (1348–1360) *Laurent Le Peintre (1360–1365) *(Pierre) Roquesalve de Soliers, O.P. (1371–1380)

Bishops during the Great Western Schism

*Jean de Tournefort (1382–1400) (Avignon Obedience) *Damiano Zavaglia, O.P. (1385 – 1388.06) (Roman Obedience) *François (1403–1409) (Avignon Obedience) *Jean de Burle (1409–1418) (Avignon Obedience)

Bishops, 1418 to 1800

*Antoine Clément, O.Min. (1418–1422) * Aimon de Chissé (1422–1427) * Aimond de Chissé (1427–1428) *Louis Badat (1428–1444) *Aimon Provana de Leyni, O.S.B. (1446–1461) *Henri de Albertis (1461–1462) *Barthélemi Chuet (1462–1501) *Jean de Loriol (1501–1506) *Agostino Ferrero, O.Cist. (1506 – 16 September 1511) (Apostolic Administrator) *Girolamo de' Capitani d'Arsago, O.S.B. (1511–1542) *Girolamo Recanati Capodiferro (6 Feb 1542 Appointed – 30 July 1544) *François de Lambert (1549 – 1582) *Jean Louis Pallavicino Ceva (7 Nov 1583 – 5 November 1598) *Francesco Martinengo, O.Min.Obs. (23 Oct 1600 Appointed – 22 August 1620) * Pierre François Maletti, (10 Jan 1622 Appointed – 4 December 1631) *Giacomo Marenco (17 Dec 1634 Appointed – 2 January 1644) * Didier Palleti, (28 Nov 1644 Appointed – 18 September 1658) * Giacinto Solaro di Moretta (9 Jun 1659 – 23 April 1663) * Diego della Chiesa (6 Jul 1665 – 30 December 1669) *Henri Provana, O.Carm.Discalc. (23 Feb 1671 – 30 November 1706) : ''Sede Vacante'' *Raymond Recrosio, Cong. Barn. (30 Jul 1727 Confirmed – 21 May 1732) *Charles-François Cantoni (Couton) (17 Apr 1741 – 23 August 1763) *Jacques-Thomas Astesan, O.P. (9 Jul 1764 Confirmed – 1 June 1778) * Charles-Eugène de Valperga de Maglione (20 Mar 1780 – Oct 1800)

Modern Bishops

*Jean-Baptiste Colonna d'Istria (11 Jul 1802 – 29 July 1833 Retired) *Dominique Galvano (24 Nov 1833 Ordained – 17 August 1855 Died) : ''Sede Vacante'' (1855–1858) *Jean-Pierre Sola (3 Jan 1858 – Oct 1877 Retired) *Matthieu-Victor-Félicien Balaïn, (10 Mar 1878 – 3 September 1896) *Henri-Louis Chapon (29 Sep 1896 Ordained – 14 December 1925 Died) *Louis-Marie Ricard (22 Jun 1926 Installed – 21 October 1929 Died) *Paul-Jules-Narcisse Rémond (8 Jul 1930 Installed – 24 April 1963 Died) *Jean-Julien-Robert Mouisset (24 Apr 1963 Succeeded – 30 April 1984 Retired) *François de Sales Marie Adrien Saint-Macary (30 Apr 1984 Succeeded – 14 November 1997) * Jean Marie Louis Bonfils, S.M.A. (28 Aug 1998 Appointed – 28 March 2005 Retired) *

Louis Albert Joseph Roger Sankalé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

(28 Mar 2005 Succeeded – 8 August 2013 Resigned) *

André Marceau André Marceau (born 6 May 1946) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Bishop of Perpignan from 2004 to 2014 and as the Bishop of Nice from 2014 to 2022. Biography Born 6 May 1946 in Cérons (Gironde, France), André Marc ...

(6 Mar 2014Vatican Press Bulletin, 6 March 2014, – 9 March 2022) * Jean-Philippe Nault (9 March 2022 – present)

References

Sources

Reference Books

* pp. 582–584. (Use with caution; obsolete) * (in Latin) * (in Latin) * * * * * * *

Studies

* * * second edition (in French) * * * * * * ist of bishops at pp. 635–637* * *

External links

* Centre national des Archives de l'Église de France
''L'Épiscopat francais depuis 1919''
retrieved: 2016-12-24.
diocesan website, in French

Acknowledgment

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nice, Roman Catholic Diocese of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Christianity in Nice