Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Besançon

Archdiocese of Besançon

Archidiœcesis Bisuntina

Archidiocèse de Besançon
Coat of arms
Location
CountryFrance
Ecclesiastical provinceBesançon
Statistics
Area9,732 km2 (3,758 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 2022)
  • 617,000 (est.)
  • 569,000 (est.)  (92.2%)
Parishes67
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established4th Century
CathedralCathedral of St. John
Patron saintImmaculate Conception
Secular priests117 diocesan
14 (Religious Orders)
36 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
PopeLeo XIV
Metropolitan ArchbishopJean-Luc Bouilleret
Map
Website
besancon.mondio16.com

The Archdiocese of Besançon (Latin: Archidiœcesis Bisuntina; French: Archidiocèse de Besançon) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It comprises the département of Doubs (except for Montbéliard) and the département of Haute-Saône (except for the canton of Héricourt).

From 1034 to 1184, the archbishop had civil authority within the Holy Roman Empire as the prince-archbishop of Besançon. He gradually lost his civil power to the town council; the city became the Imperial city of Besançon in 1184. The city was annexed by France in stages, eventually being fully subsumed by France in 1792 during the French Revolution. The Archdiocese of Besançon is a metropolitan see with five suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province: the Dioceses of Belfort-Montbéliard, Nancy, Saint–Claude, Saint-Dié, and Verdun.