Archdiocese of Poitiers Archidioecesis Pictaviensis Archidiocèse de Poitiers | |
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| Location | |
| Country | France |
| Ecclesiastical province | Poitiers |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 13,098 km2 (5,057 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2021) 812,900 (est.) 661,000 (est.) (81.3%) |
| Parishes | 28 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 3rd Century (as Diocese) 8 December 2002 (as Archdiocese) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Poitiers |
| Patron saint | St. Hilary of Poitiers |
| Secular priests | 150 (Diocesan) 5 (Religious Orders) 44 Permanent Deacons |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Sede vacante |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Pascal Wintzer |
| Suffragans | Angoulême La Rochelle and Saintes Limoges Tulle |
| Bishops emeritus | Albert Rouet Archbishop (2002–2011) |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| Website of the Archdiocese (French) | |
The Archdiocese of Poitiers (Latin: Archidioecesis Pictaviensis; French: Archidiocèse de Poitiers) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is in the city of Poitiers. The Diocese of Poitiers includes the two Departments of Vienne and Deux-Sèvres. The Concordat of 1802 added to the see besides the ancient Diocese of Poitiers a part of the Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes.
The diocese was erected according to an unsteady tradition in the third century, as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux. On 13 August 1317, the diocese was subdivided by Pope John XXII, and two new dioceses, Luçon and Maillezais, were created.[1] The diocese was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese in 2002. The archdiocese is the metropolitan of the Diocese of Angoulême, the Diocese of La Rochelle, the Diocese of Limoges, and the Diocese of Tulle.
The Cathedral Church of Saint-Pierre had a chapter composed of the bishop and twenty-four canons. The officers of the chapter were: the dean, the cantor, the provost, the sub-dean, the sub-cantor, and the three archdeacons (who are not prebends). The abbé of Nôtre-Dame-le-Grand was also a member of the chapter ex officio.[2]
Before the Revolution, the diocese had three archdeacons: the archdeacon of Poitiers, the archdeacon of Briançay (or Brioux), and the archdeacon of Thouars.[3]
The current archbishop is Pascal Wintzer, who was appointed in 2012. Since 2010 there have been three priestly ordinations in the diocese, and four ordinations of permanent deacons.[4]
- ^ Favreau and Pon, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Pouillé, p. 148, 160.
- ^ Pouillé, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Catholiques en Poitou: Site officiel du diocèse de Poitiers, Ordinations, retrieved: 2017-05-05.