Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances

Diocese of Coutances-Avranches Dioecesis Constantiensis-Abrincensis Diocèse de Coutances-Avranches
Coutances Cathedral
Location
Country	France
Ecclesiastical province	Rouen
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Rouen
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 506,300 412,400 (81.5%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	5th Century (As Diocese of Coutances) 12 July 1854 (As Diocese of Coutances-Avranches)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Notre Dame in Coutances
Patron saint	Blessed Virgin Mary St Laud of Coutances
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Laurent Le Boulc'h
Metropolitan Archbishop	Jean-Charles Marie Descubes
Emeritus Bishops	Jacques Louis Marie Joseph Fihey Bishop Emeritus (1989-2006)
Website
Website of the Diocese

Saint Aubert, bishop of Avranches, was ordered by the Archangel Michael to start construction of what became Mont Saint-Michel

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (Lat:Constantiensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Coutance in the commune of Coutances in France. The diocese is suffragan of the Archbishop of Rouen and comprises the entire department of Manche. It was enlarged in 1802 by the addition of the former Diocese of Avranches and of two archdeaconries from the Diocese of Bayeux. Since 1854 its bishops have held the title of Bishop of Coutances and Avranches.

The bishop of Coutances exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Channel Islands, mostly in Alderney where the Bishop also held partial authority over the Leader of Alderney, until the Reformation, despite the secular division of Normandy in 1204. The final rupture occurred definitively in 1569 when Queen Elizabeth I demanded that the Bishops hand it over to the Bishop of Winchester.

Bishops of Coutances

• Saint Ereptiolus (fourth century)
• Saint Exuperatus (fourth century)
• Leontianus, first bishop historically known, attended the First Council of Orléans (511).
• Saint Lô (Laud, Lautro) (sixth century)
• Saint Rumpharius (d. about 586)
• Saint Frémond (Frodemundus) (fl. 679)
• Hugh (989 - 1024)
• Herbert, c. 1025-1026
• Robert, c. 1026-1048, previously bishop of Lisieux
• Geoffrey de Montbray (from 1049–1093)
• Anthony de Suson (in 1111)
• Silvester de Brunievre (in 1163)
• Bersabel le Blanc (in 1199)
• Hugues de Morville (from 1202–1238)
• Gilles Deschamps
• Philibert de Montjeu (from 1424–1439)
• Giuliano della Rovere (from 1476–1478), afterwards Pope Julius II
• John Lesley

Bishops of Avranches

• Nepos, the first bishop known to history, assisted at the First Council of Orléans in 511.
• Saint Severus ca. 520
• Perpetuus 533–541
• Egidius 549–550
• Saint Pair, or Paternus (d. 565)
• Saint Sénier 563
• Saint Leudeuald, Leodovaldus ca. 580
• Hildoald ca. 614–626
• Saint Rahentrannus, Ragertran, Ragertrannus (about 682)
• Saint Severus (about 690)
• Saint Aubert, Aubertus ca. 708
• Jean I ca. 840
• Ansegaud ca. 847–ca. 853
• Remedius 855
• Walbert ca. 859–ca. 862
• Norgod (Norgaud) ca. 990–ca. 1017 or 1018
• Maugis (Maingise) 1022–ca. 1026
• Hugo 1028–ca. 1060
• Jean d'Ivry (or de Bayeux) 1060–1067, in 1068 Archbishop of Rouen, son of Rodulf of Ivry
• Michael I 1068–1094
• Turgis (Turgise) 1094–1134
• Richard de Beaufou 1134–1142
• Richard de Subligny 1142–1153
• Herbert II 1154–1161
• Achard of St. Victor 1162–1171
• Richard III 1171–1182
• Guillaume I Bureau 1182–ca. 1195
• Guillaume II de Chemillé 1196–1198
• Guillaume III Tollerment 1199–1210
• Guillaume IV Bureau 1210–1236
• Guillaume V de Saint-Mère-Eglise 1236–1253
• Richard IV L`Ainé 1253–1257
• Guillaume VI 1257–1258
• Richard V L`Anglois 1259–1269
• Raoul de Thiéville 1269–1292
• Geoffroi Boucher 1293–1306
• Nicolas de Luzarches 1307–1311
• Michel II de Pontorson 1311–1312
• Jean III de La Mouche 1312–1327
• Jean IV de Vienne 1328–1331
• Jean V Hautfune 1331–1358
• Foulque Bardoul 1358–1359
• Robert I de La Porte 1359–1379
• Laurent de Faye 1379–1391
• Jean VI de Saint-Avit 1391–1442
• Martin Pinard 1442–1458
• Jean VII Bouchard 1458–1484
• Louis de Bourbon-Vendôme 1484–1510
• Louis Herbert 1511–1526
• Agostino Trivulzio 1526 (administrator)
• Jean VIII de Langeac 1526–1532
• Robert Ceneau (Robert Cénalis) 1532–1560 (also Bishop of Vence and Bishop of Riez)
• Antoine Le Cirier 1561–1575
• Augustin Le Cirier 1575–1580
• Georges de Péricard 1583–1587
• François de Péricard 1588–1639
• Charles Vialart de Saint-Paul 1640–1644
• Roger D'Aumont 1645–1651
• Gabriel Boislève 1652–1657
• Gabriel-Philippe de Froulay de Tessé 1668–1689
• Fabio Brulart de Sillery 1689
• Pierre Daniel Huet 1689–1699
• Roland-François de Kerhoen de Coettenfau 1709–1719
• César Le Blanc 1719–1746
• P.-Joseph-Baptiste-Durand de Missy 1746–1764
• Raimond de Durfort 1764–1766
• Joseph-François de Malide 1766–1774
• Pierre-Augustin Godard de Belbeuf 1774–1790

Bishops of Coutances and Avranches

• Jacques-Louis Daniel, 1854–1862
• Jean-Pierre Bravard, 1862–1875
• Abel-Anastase Germain, 1876–1897
• Joseph Guérard, 1899–1924
• Théophile-Marie Louvard, 1924–1950, previously bishop of Langres
• Jean Guyot, 1950–1966, later archbishop of Toulouse and Cardinal
• Joseph Wicquart, 1966–1988
• Jacques Fihey, 1989–2006
• Stanislas Lalanne, 2007–2012; transferred by Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, January 31, 2013, to be Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pontoise, in Pontoise, France
• Laurent Le Boulc'h, 2013−present

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

Sources

• Coutances from the Catholic Encyclopedia