Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Saint-Etienne

Sancti Stephani

The Diocese of Saint-Etienne is a Latin rite diocese covering the southern Loire department, erected on 26 December 1970 from the Archdiocese of Lyon, of which it is a suffragan. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Charles Borromeo in Saint-Etienne; per catholic-hierarchy (May 2026) the see is currently vacant.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
26 December 1970
Latin
Sancti Stephani
Patron
Saint Stephen
Annuario code
001002809

The see in figures

Catholics
475,000
Population
603,000
Catholic share
78.8%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
62
Catholics per priest
7,661
Extent
3,035 km²
Catholics per km²
157

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

The register holds no ordinary for this see. Where a chair is vacant the vacancy is the fact, and it is recorded rather than filled in. See the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of Saint Charles Borromeo in Saint-Étienne stands in Saint-Etienne, 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 Lyon

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Lyon.

The sees of this province:

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

History

On the left, western bank of the Loire River, opposite Vienne, sits the base of the Diocese of Saint-Étienne (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Stephani; French: Diocèse de Saint-Étienne), a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France located in the Loire department. By road, 51 km (32 mi) separate Vienne from Saint-Étienne.

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].