Diocese of Metz
Meten(sis)
Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See · Latin Church · Metz, France
The Diocese of Metz is a Latin rite diocese covering the Moselle department in northeastern France, erected in the 3rd century and immediately subject to the Holy See; with Strasbourg it remains under the special concordat regime of Alsace-Moselle. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz.
The see
- Rank
- Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 201
- Latin
- Meten(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Stephen
- Annuario code
- 001002236
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 809,000
- Population
- 1,036,000
- Catholic share
- 78.1%
- Priests
- 242
- Catholics per priest
- 3,343
- Extent
- 6,226 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 130
of the people living within its bounds
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
- Philippe Ballot
- Born
- 2 October 1956
- Birthplace
- Corbenay
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 St. Stephen in Metz stands in Metz, 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.
History
During the Middle Ages the Diocese of Metz (Latin: Dioecesis Metensis; French: Diocèse de Metz), a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France, was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, in practice an independent state governed by a prince-bishop who held the ex officio title of count. King Henry II annexed it to France in 1552, an act the Holy Roman Empire recognized in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, and it formed part of the province of the Three Bishoprics.
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.
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].