Archdiocese of Clermont

The Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: Archidioecesis Claromontana; French: Archidiocèse de Clermont) is a Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Puy-de-Dôme, in the Region of Auvergne. The Archbishop's seat is Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral. Throughout its history Clermont was the senior suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bourges. It became a metropolitan see itself, however, in 2002. The current archbishop is François Kalist.

At first very extensive, the diocese lost Haute-Auvergne in 1317 through the reorganization of the structure of bishoprics in southern France and Aquitaine by Pope John XXII, resulting in the creation of the diocese of Saint-Flour.Saint-Flour (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy] In 1822, in the reorganization of French dioceses by Pope Pius VII, following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, the diocese of Clermont lost the Bourbonnais, on account of the erection of the diocese of Moulins. Since the reorganization in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, there are now four dioceses in the province of Clermont: Clermont, Le Puy-en-Velay, Moulins, and Saint-Flour.

History The first bishop of Clermont was Saint Austremonius (Stramonius). Historical accounts differ regarding his era: One is a local tradition that considers him one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, while Gregory of Tours considers him one of the missionaries who arrived in Gaul about 250. According to local tradition he was one of the Disciples of Christ, by birth a Jew, who came with Saint Peter from Palestine to Rome and subsequently became the Apostle of Auvergne, Berry, Nivernais, and Limousin. At Clermont he is said to have converted the senator Cassius and the pagan priest Victorinus, to have sent Saint Sirenatus (Cerneuf) to Thiers, Saint Marius to Salers, Saint Nectarius (Nectaire) and Saint Antoninus into other parts of Auvergne, and to have been beheaded in 92. This tradition is based on a life of Saint Austremonius written in the tenth century in the Mozac Abbey, where the body of the saint had rested from 761, and rewritten by the monks of Issoire, who retained the saint's head. Gregory of Tours, born in Auvergne in 544 and well versed in the history of that country, looks upon Austremonius as one of the seven missionaries who, about 250, evangelized Gaul; he relates how the body of the saint was first interred at Issoire, being there the object of great veneration. Cf. (polemical, defensive of hagiographical tradition).

Among the bishops of Clermont should also be mentioned: Pierre de Cros (1301–04), engaged by Thomas Aquinas to complete his Summa; Étienne Aubert (1340–42), later Pope Innocent VI (1352–62); Guillaume du Prat (1528–60), founder of the Clermont College in Paris, and delegate of Francis I of France to the Council of Trent; and Massillon, the illustrious orator (1717–42).

Several famous Jansenists were natives of Clermont: Blaise Pascal, author of the Pensées (1623–62); the Arnauld family, and Jean Soanen (1647–1740), Bishop of Senez, famous for his stubborn opposition to the Bull "Unigenitus". On the other hand, the city of Riom in the diocese of Clermont was the birthplace of Jacques Sirmond, the learned Jesuit (1559–1651), Confessor to Louis XIII and editor of the volumes on the ancient councils of Gaul.

Other natives worth mention were the Abbé Jacques Delille, poet and Academician (1738–1813); and François Dominique de Reynaud, Comte de Montlosier, the publicist (1755–1838), who was a member of the Estates General of 1789 for Clermont-Ferrand and a Royalist in the convention, famous for his memoir against the Jesuits and for his being refused a Catholic burial by Bishop Ferou. The famous Jesuit paleontologist and philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) was born only seven miles from Clermont, in the Château d'Orcines; his publications were condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.Dietrich von Hildebrand, Teilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet (Franciscan Herald Press 1970). Undoubtedly, and by far, the most famous native sons of the diocese of Clermont were Édouard Michelin (1859–1940) and his elder brother André Michelin (1853–1931), who perfected the pneumatic tire.

Religious orders The Diocese of Clermont can likewise claim a number of monks whom the Church honours as saints, viz: St. Calevisus (Calais, 460–541), a pupil in the monastery of Menat near Riom, whence he retired to Maine, where he founded the Abbey of Anisole; St. Maztius (died 527), founder at Royat near Clermont of a monastery which became later a Benedictine priory; St. Portianus (sixth century), founder of a monastery to which the city of Saint-Pourçain (Allier) owes its origin; St. Étienne de Muret (1046–1124), son of the Viscount of Thiers and founder of the Order of Grandmont in Limousin, and St. Peter the Venerable (1092–1156), of the Montboissier family of Auvergne, noted as a writer and Abbot of Cluny.

In the diocese of Clermont, the king of France enjoyed the right of nomination of the head of numerous houses. On each of the abbeys see: These included the Benedictine abbeys of Saint-Austremoine d'Issiore,Gallia christiana II, pp. 357–360. Ebrulles,Gallia christiana II, pp. 369–372. La Chaise-Dieu,Gallia christiana II, pp. 327–351. Saint-Allire-les-Clermont,Gallia christiana II, pp. 323–327. Manlieu (Grand-lieu),Gallia christiana II, pp. 360–363. Mauzac près de Riom,Gallia christiana II, pp. 351–357. Menat,Gallia christiana II, pp. 366–369. Saint Symphorien, Thiers,Gallia christiana II, pp. 363–366. and Aurillac. Cistercian abbeys included: Bellaigue, Bouchet (Vau-Luisant), Mont-Peyroux, and Val-honneste. The king nominated the Abbot of the Augustinian house at Chantoin, as well as the Premonstratensian Abbots of Saint-André-lez-Clermont, Saint-Gilbert-de-Neuf-fontaines, and the abbeys of Beaumont, La Boissie, Cessac, and L'Eschelle. Priories which were royal benefices were: Bragat, Cusset, Theulle (Ordre de Grammont), and Sallignac. He also held the nomination of the Collegiate Churches of Arthonne (the Abbot), Verneul (the Dean, Chanter, and five prebends), and the Dean of Saint-Amable de Rion. Other abbeys in the diocese included Saint-Pourçain, between Clermont and Moulins.Gallia christiana II, pp. 371–374.

The mendicant orders began to appear in the diocese of Clermont at an early date. The Franciscans were installed in Montferrand around 1224, and shortly thereafter at Le Puy. The Dominicans were in evidence in Clermont itself by 1227 and the Franciscans in 1241. The Dominicans also settled in Aurillac ca 1230, at Riom (1233) and at Brioude (ca. 1240–1244). Clermont also had houses of Clarisses and Carmelites. The Augustinians settled at Ennezat in 1352 and the Carmelites at Aurillac in 1358. The Dominicans opened a convent at Saint-Flour before 1367. The Celestines took up residence in Vichy in 1410. The reformed Franciscans appeared in the fifteenth century, and the observant Franciscans in 1430 at Murat.Martin (ed.), p. 443. Gallia christiana II, pp. 223–224; 322-324.

The Jesuits established themselves in Clermont with the College de Clermont in 1630, after a stormy beginning in which the municipality attempted to bring the college under its control. The institution grew in numbers and prestige until 1762, when an ordinance of the Parlement of Paris of 27 February forbade the municipal officers of Clermont from choosing the masters and regents of the college from among the Jesuits. The Jesuits left Clermont in March, and the Society of Jesus was completely suppressed in France in 1764. Thereafter the college was administered by a committee, authorized by a royal order, of which the Bishop was the chair. In 1791 the college became an 'Institut' administered by the Directorate of the Département, and in 1796 it became the École centrale du département de Puy-de-Dôme and was administered by the municipal committee on public instruction.Tardieu, pp. 616–620. The Jesuits also had colleges at Billom and Mauriac.Poitrineau, pp. 88–89.

Other religious orders suffered in the Revolution. All monastic vows were abolished by the Constituent Assembly in the Autumn of 1789, and on 10 October 1789 all the properties and lands of the Church were confiscated for the benefit of the people. On 13 February 1790 all religious orders in France were dissolved.

During the Second World War, Gabriel Piguet, Bishop of the Diocese at the time, was imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp, after being arrested by the Gestapo for allowing Jewish children to be hidden in a boarding school. During his confinement, he ordained Blessed Karl Leisner as a priest.

Councils and papal visits

Church councils took place at Clermont in 535, 549,Hefele, IV, p. 371. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus IX (Florence 1763), pp. 141–146. It is interesting that no bishop of Auvergne (Clermont) subscribes, though Bishop Gallus was present at the Council of Orleans earlier in the same year. c. 585–588,The Council of 585/588 was a provincial synod, presided over by the Archbishop of Bourges: Mansi, IX (Florence 1763), 973-974. 590,The council in confinio trium civitatum (Arverni, Gabalitani, Rutheni; Clermont, Mende, Rodez): Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum Book X, chapter 8. Mansi, Tomus X, pp. 453–456. Gonod (1833), p. 13. De Clercq, p. 261. 1095, 1130.Mansi, XXI (Venice 1776), pp. 437–440.

The Council of 535 met under the presidency of Bishop Honoratus of Bourges and ratified at least fifteen canons, including one (§2) that ordered that bishops be elected by the clergy and people, with the consent of the metropolitan; and one (§8) that forbade that Jews be appointed judges over Christians. Canon 6 prohibited sexual relations between a Christian and a Jew.Hefele, p. 191. De Clercq, pp. 106–107.

The Council of 590 met at the southern border of the diocese of Clermont, where it touches the dioceses of Mende and Rodez. The bishops at the meeting, including perhaps Avitus of Clermont and Innocentius of Rodez attempted to deal with the complicated business of Tetradia, the widow of one Desiderius, and her dealings with Count Eulalius.Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum Book X, chapter 8. Duchesne, pp. 36, 40, 55.

Pope Urban II came to Clermont in mid-November 1095P. Jaffé, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, I, editio altera (Leipzig 1885), pp. 681–682. Urban II left Clermont in the first days of December. to preside at the council which launched the First Crusade; D. C. Munro, "The Speech of Pope Urban II at Clermont," American Historical Review, XI (1906), 231—242. R. Somerville (1976), 'The Council of Clermont and the First Crusade', Studia Gratiana, 20 (1976), pp. 335–337. Pope Paschal II visited the city in 1106; Callistus II on 19 May 1119;Jaffé, p. 782, no. 6695. Innocent II from mid-November to early December 1130, where he held a synod;Jaffé, p. 845. Pope Alexander III from 13 to 19 August 1162, and again from 25 May to 25 June 1165;Jaffé, II (Leipzig 1888), pp. 160–161; 192-193. and, in 1166, Thomas Becket.Cf. It was also at Clermont that, in 1262, in presence of St. Louis, the marriage of Philip the Bold and Isabella of Aragon was solemnized.Claude Fleury, Historia ecclesiastica (ed. B. Parode and D. Ziegler) Tomus XXI (Augsburg 1765), pp. 405–406.

Cathedral