Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Coutances

Constantien(sis)

The Diocese of Coutances (Coutances-Avranches) is a Latin rite diocese covering the Manche department in Normandy, France, with origins in the 5th century; the title of Avranches was added in 1854. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rouen. Its seat is the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Coutances.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1854
Latin
Constantien(sis)
Patron
Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Laud of Coutances
Annuario code
001001226

The see in figures

Catholics
408,740
Population
491,532
Catholic share
83.2%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
112
Catholics per priest
3,649
Extent
5,991 km²
Catholics per km²
68

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
Gregoire Cador
Born
11 March 1961
Birthplace
Solesmes

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

Coutances Cathedral stands in Coutances, 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 Rouen

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Rouen.

The sees of this province:

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

History

Suffragan of the Archbishop of Rouen, the Diocese of Coutances (-Avranches) (Latin: Dioecesis Constantiensis (-Abrincensis); French: Diocèse de Coutances (-Avranches)) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France whose territory takes in the entire department of Manche. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Coutance in the commune of Coutances. In 1802 the diocese was enlarged by the addition of the former Diocese of Avranches and two archdeaconries drawn from the Diocese of Bayeux, and since 1854 its bishops have carried the title Bishop of Coutances (-Avranches). In 2021 there was one priest for every 3,523 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].