Parishes 120 Area 4,580 km² Cathedral Aix Cathedral | Established 1st Century Phone +33 4 42 17 58 00 Archbishop Christophe Dufour | |
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Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2012)867,000714,000 (82.4%) Ecclesiastical province Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Marseille Similar Paroisse Cathédrale Saint Sau, Saint Jean de Malte, Eglise du Saint Esprit, Roman Catholic Archdioc, Eglise Notre‑Da de l'Arc Profiles | ||
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles (Latin: Archidioecesis Aquensis in Gallia et Arelatensis; French: Archidiocèse d'Aix-en-Provence et Arles; Occitan Provençal: Archidiocèsi de Ais de Provença e Arle or Archidioucèsi de z'Ais e Arle) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The Archepiscopal see is located in the city of Aix-en-Provence. The diocese comprises the department of Bouches-du-Rhône (minus the arrondissement of Marseilles), in the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is currently a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Marseilles and consequently the archbishop no longer wears the pallium.
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Traditionally established in sub-apostolic times, the diocese (as metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda) was elevated to metropolitical status in the 5th century. After the Concordat, the Archdiocese gained the titles of Arles and Embrun (1822), becoming the Archdiocese of Aix (-Arles-Embrun). The dioceses of Fréjus and Toulon had been suppressed and parts of Toulon and Riez were attributed to Aix, but Fréjus (including Toulon -where its bishop now resides) was re- established at this time. In 2007, the name was changed again (dropping Embrun in favour of the bishop of Gap) to the Archdiocese of Aix (-Arles).
The current archbishop is Christophe Dufour.
History
Certain traditions make Saint Maximinus the first Bishop of Aix, one of the seventy-two Disciples and the companion of Mary Magdalen in Provence. Louis Duchesne seems to have proved that this saint, the object of a very ancient local cult, was not considered the first bishop of Aix, or connected with the life of Saint Mary Magdalen, except in recent legends, devised towards the middle of the 11th century by the monks of Vézelay. The first historically known bishop of Aix, Lazarus, occupied this see about the beginning of the 5th century. Only at the end of the 8th century Aix became an archbishopric; up to that time it was dependent upon the Bishop of Arles who enjoyed supra - provincial authority.