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	5,991 km2 (2,313 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 491,532 408,740 (83.2%)
Parishes	58
Information
Denomination	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	Coutances Cathedral
Patron saint	Blessed Virgin Mary St. Laud of Coutances
Secular priests	112 (Diocesan) 4 (Religious Orders) 50 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Grégoire Cador
Metropolitan Archbishop	Dominique Lebrun
Map
Website
coutances.catholique.fr

The Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis); French: Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)) is a Latin diocese of the 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 (–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 the island over to the Bishop of Winchester.^[1]

In 2021, in the Diocese of Coutances there was one priest for every 3,523 Catholics.