Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Beauvais

Bellovacen(sis)

The Diocese of Beauvais (Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis) is a Latin rite diocese covering the Oise department in northern France, with origins in the 3rd century. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Reims. Its seat is St. Peter's Cathedral in Beauvais, famous for the tallest Gothic choir vault ever built.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Latin
Bellovacen(sis)
Patron
St. Lucian of Beauvais
Annuario code
001000865

The see in figures

Catholics
569,000
Population
831,000
Catholic share
68.5%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
84
Catholics per priest
6,774
Extent
5,855 km²
Catholics per km²
97

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
Jacques Benoit-Gonnin
Born
24 June 1952
Birthplace
Thoiry

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

St. Peter's Cathedral, Beauvais stands in Beauvais, 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 Reims

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Reims.

The sees of this province:

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

History

The department of Oise, in the region of Hauts-de-France, forms the territory of the Diocese of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis (Latin: Dioecesis Bellovacensis, Noviomensis et Silvanectensis; French: Diocèse de Beauvais, Noyon et Senlis), a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France and a suffragan of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Reims. Jacques Benoit-Gonnin, appointed in 2010, is the current bishop. In 2022 the diocese counted one priest for every 5,747 Catholics.

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].