Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Tournai, Doornik

Tornacen(sis)

Latin rite diocese covering the province of Hainaut, Belgium, formed as a separate see in 1146 upon the dissolution of the joint Diocese of Noyon and Tournai. A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, its seat is the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Tournai. Bishop Frederic Rossignol, C.S.Sp. was appointed 6 October 2025, succeeding Guy Harpigny.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1146
Latin
Tornacen(sis)
Patron
san Eleuterio de Tournai
Annuario code
001003263

The see in figures

Catholics
708,400
Population
1,344,241
Catholic share
52.7%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
242
Catholics per priest
2,927
Extent
3,796 km²
Catholics per km²
187

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Frederic Rossignol, C.S.Sp.

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Tournai stands in Tournai, Doornik, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Mechelen-Brussels

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

When the Diocese of Noyon and Tournai, in existence since the 7th century, was dissolved in 1146, the Diocese of Tournai (Latin: Dioecesis Tornacensis) was formed. This Latin Church diocese in Belgium is now suffragan to the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Its cathedra stands in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Tournai, recognized as a major site for Wallonia's heritage since 1936 and a World Heritage Site since 2000.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].