Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol and Saint-Malo


The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with the department of Ille et Vilaine. The Archdiocese has 8 suffragans: the Diocese of Angers, the Diocese of Laval, the Diocese of Le Mans, the Diocese of Luçon, the Diocese of Nantes, the Diocese of Quimper and Léon, the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier, and the Diocese of Vannes.
In the Middle Ages the Bishop of Rennes had the privilege of crowning the dukes of Brittany in his cathedral. On the occasion of his first entry into Rennes it was customary for him to be borne on the shoulders of four Breton barons.
The Concordat of 1802 re-established the Diocese of Rennes which since then has included: the ancient Diocese of Rennes with the exception of three parishes given to the Diocese of Nantes; the greater part of the ancient Diocese of Dol; the greater part of the ancient Diocese of St. Malo; ten parishes that had formed part of the ancient Diocese of Vannes and Nantes. On 3 January 1859, the See of Rennes, which the French Revolution had desired to make a metropolitan, became an archiepiscopal see, with the Diocese of Quimper and Léon, Diocese of Vannes, and Diocese of St. Brieuc as suffragans. Cardinal Place obtained from Pope Leo XIII permission for the Archbishop of Rennes to add the titles of Dol and St. Malo to that of Rennes.
In 2014, in the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo there was one priest for every 2,537 Catholics.

History

Tradition names as first apostles of the future Diocese of Rennes, but of an uncertain date: Saint Maximinus, who was reported to have been a disciple and friend of Saint Paul, Saint Clarus, and Saint Justus. On the other hand, when in the fifth and sixth centuries bands of Christian Britons emigrated from Great Britain to Armorica and formed on its northern coast the small Kingdom of Domnonée, the Gospel was preached for the first time in the future Diocese of Dol and Diocese of Aleth. Among these missionaries were St. Armel, who, according to the legend, founded in the sixth century the town of Ploermel in the Diocese of Vannes and then retired into the forests of Chateaugiron and Janzé and attacked Druidism on the very site of the Dolmen of the Fairy Rocks ; St. Méen who retired to the solitudes around Pontrecoët and founded the monastery of Gael, known afterwards as St. Méen's; and St. Samson and St. Malo.
The earliest historical reference to the See of Rennes dates from 453. An assembly of eight bishops of Provincia Lugdunensis Tertia took place at Angers on 4 October 453 to consecrate a new bishop for Angers. Four of the bishops can be associated with particular Sees. The other four are assigned by scholars to the other dioceses in the ecclesiastical province, one of which was Rennes. One of the four prelates, Sarmatio, Chariato, Rumoridus, and Viventius, was Bishop of Rennes. This bishop's successor, likely his immediate successor, Athenius, took part in the Council of Tours in 461. Louis Duchesne is of opinion that the St. Amandus reckoned by some scholars among the bishops of Rennes at the end of the fifth century is the same as St. Amand of Rodez. He therefore excludes him from his list of authentic bishops.
In 1180 Bishop Philippe, acting in accordance with a dream, began the replacement of the old cathedral with a new edifice; the eastern part of the building was erected, but various delays hampered the completion of the whole structure. The ceremony of consecration did not take place until 3 November 1359, though the edifice was still uncompleted. A new cathedral which had been built and dedicated to Saint Peter in 1541 was demolished in 1755 and replaced by the current edifice.
The Chapter of the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre was composed of five dignities and sixteen Canons, and sixteen prebends. The dignities were: the Archdeacon of Rennes, the Archdeacon of Le Désert, the Cantor, the Succentor, and the Treasurer. The royal pouillé of 1648 names six dignities, omitting the Succentor and adding the Theologian and Penitentiary. The Treasurer was presented by the Pope. The Chapter, and all the cathedral chapters in France, were suppressed by the Constituent Assembly in 1790.
The diocese also contained three Collegiate Churches which had Canons: La Guerche, Vitré, and Champeau. Notre-Dame de Guerche had twelve Canons and prebends, S. Marie Madeleine at Vitry had twenty-two Canons, headed by their Treasurer. Notre-Dame de Champeau had six Canons and prebends, and were headed by a Dean.
In accordance with the terms of the Concordat of Bologna of 1516, between King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X all bishops in France were to be nominated by the King and approved by the Pope. This was continued under Napoleon by the terms of the Concordat of 1801 and by the Bourbon monarchs and their successors to 1905 by the Concordat of 1817. The practice did not apply during the French Revolution, when the Civil Constitution of the Clergy mandated the election of bishops by qualified electors in each of the new départements of the republic. These 'Constitutional Bishops' were in schism with the Papacy. Therefore, nearly all Archbishops of Rennes from 1516 to 1905 were nominees of the French government. In addition to the nomination of the Bishop of Rennes, the king also held the nomination of the Abbey of Saint-Mélaine, the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Rillé, the Abbey of Saint-Georges-de-Rennes aux Nonnains, and the Abbey of Saint-Sulpice aux Nonnains.
Noteworthy bishops of the diocese of Rennes are: Marbodus, the hymnographer ; the Dominican Yves Mayeuc ; Arnaud d'Ossat, cardinal in 1599, and prominent in the conversion of Henry IV of France; Godefroy Brossais Saint Marc, cardinal in 1875; Charles Place, cardinal in 1886; and Guillaume Labouré, cardinal in 1897.
During the Revolution Claude Le Coz, Principal of the Collège de Quimper, was elected Constitutional Bishop of Ille-et-Vilaine. Under the Concordat he became Archbishop of Besançon.

Bishops and Archbishops of Rennes

to 1000

  • Athenius
  • Melaine
  • Fybediolus
  • Victurius
  • Haimoaldus
  • Rioterus
  • Moderamnus ca. 715–720
  • Wernarius
  • Electramnus
  • Nordoardus
  • Tetbaldus

    from 1000 to 1500

  • Gualterius
  • Guarinus
  • Triscanus
  • Mainus.
  • Sylvester de la Guerche.
  • Marbodius.
  • Roaldus.
  • Hamelinus.
  • Alanus
  • Stephanus de la Rochefoucald
  • Robert.
  • Étienne de Fougères.
  • Philippe
  • Jacques
  • Herbert:
  • Peter de Dinan
  • Pierre de Fougères
  • Josselinus de Montauban
  • Alain
  • Jean Gicquel:
  • Aegidius:
  • Maurice de Trelidi :
  • Guillaume de la Roche-Tanguy :
  • Jean de Samesio
  • Aegidius Camelini:
  • Ivo :
  • Alain de Chateaugiron:
  • Guillaume Ouvroing:
  • Artaud, O.S.B. :
  • Pierre de Valle:
  • Guillaume Poulart :
  • Pierre de Guémené:
  • Radulfus de Tréal:
  • Guillaume de Briz:
  • Antoine de Lovier:
  • Anselme de Chantemerle:
  • Guillaume Brillet:
  • Robert de la Riviere
  • Jacques d'Espinay-Durestal:
  • Michel Guibé:

    from 1500 to 1800

  • Robert Guibé:
  • Yvo de Mayeuc, O.P.
  • Claude de Dodieu
  • Bernardin Bochetel :
  • Bertrand de Marillac :
  • Aymar Hennequin:
  • Arnaud d'Ossat:
  • François l'Archiver:
  • Pierre Cornulier:
  • Henri de la Motte-Houdancourt
  • Charles François de Vieuville
  • François de Bouthilier-Chavigny:
  • Jean-Baptiste de Beaumanoir de Lavardin:
  • Christophe-Louis Turpin de Crissé de Sanzay:
  • Charles-Louis-Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil:
  • Louis-Guy de Guérapin de Vauréal:
  • Jean-Antoine de Toucheboeuf de Beaumont des Junies:
  • Henri-Louis-René Des Nos:
  • François Bareau de Girac:

    since 1800

  • Jean-Baptiste-Marie de Maillé de la Tour-Landry:
  • Etienne-Célestin Enoch:
  • Charles Mannay:
  • Claude-Louis de Lesquen:
  • Geoffroy Brossais Saint-Marc:
  • Charles-Philippe Place:
  • Jean-Natalis-François Gonindard:
  • Guillaume-Marie-Joseph Labouré:
  • Auguste-René-Marie Dubourg:
  • Alexis-Armand Charost †
  • René-Pierre Mignen †
  • Clément-Emile Roques †
  • Paul Joseph Marie Gouyon †
  • Jacques André Marie Jullien †
  • François Saint-Macary †
  • Pierre d'Ornellas

    Studies

  • Ernault, Émile, "Marbode, évêque de Rennes, sa vie, ses oeuvres,"