The Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg () is a Latin Catholic diocese in Switzerland, which is (as all sees in the Alpine country) exempt (i.e. immediately subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province). The original diocese of Lausanne was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Besançon until 1801.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 255, note 1. The diocese of Geneva was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Vienne.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 223, note 1.
The diocese covers the cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel, with the exception of certain parishes of the right bank of the Rhône belonging to the Diocese of Sion (Sitten). It was created by the merger in 1821 of the Diocese of Lausanne and the Diocese of Geneva, both prince-bishoprics until they were secularized during the Reformation. Until 1924, it was called the Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva. The diocese has its seat at Fribourg. The current bishop is Charles Morerod, O.P., who was ordained and installed on 11 December 2011.
Despite the name, it has no direct link with the former Diocese of Geneva (400-1801), which was merged into the then Diocese of Chambéry, which was promoted to a Metropolitan see but lost former Genevan territory to the Diocese of Lausanne in 1819.
History Lausanne The origin of the See of Lausanne can be traced to the ancient See of Windisch (Vindonissa). Bubulcus, the first Bishop of Windisch, appeared at the imperial Synod of Epaone for the Arelatic Kingdom of the Burgundians in 517.Friedrich Maassen (ed.), Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Legum sectio III: Concilia Tomus I: "Concilia aevi merovingici, , (Hannover: Hahn 1893), pp. 15–30. The second and last known Bishop of Windisch was Gramatius (Grammatius), who signed the decrees of the Synods of Clermont in 535,Maassen, "Concilia aevi merovingici" pp. 65–71 of Orléans, 541,Maassen, "Concilia aevi merovingici", 86-99 and that of Orléans in 549.Maassen, "Concilia aevi merovingici", pp. 99–112. It was generally believed that shortly after this the see was transferred from Windisch to Konstanz, until investigations, particularly by Marius Besson,Marius Besson was bishop of Lausanne (1920–1945), with a special interest in Saint Marius, the first bishop of Lausanne. Besson, (1906), Recherches sur les origines des évêchés de Genève, Lausanne, Sion et leurs premiers titulaires jusqu'au déclin du VIe siècle, , Fribourg: O. Gschwend, 1906, pp. 137–209. made it probable that, between 549 and 585, the see was divided and the real seat of the bishops of Windisch transferred to Avenches (Aventicum), while the eastern part of the diocese was united with the Diocese of Konstanz.Reymond, p. 5
Lausanne was originally a suffragan of the archbishopric of Lyon (certainly about the seventh century), later of Besançon, from which it was detached by the French Napoleonic Concordat of 1801.
In medieval times, as attested by the charter of the Emperor Henry IV, the diocese extended from the Aar, near Solothurn, to the northern end of the Valley of St. Imier, thence along the Doubs and the ridge of the Jura Mountains to where the Aubonne flows into Lake Geneva, and thence along the north of the lake to Villeneuve whence the boundary-line followed the watershed between Rhône and Aar to the Grimsel, and down the Aar to Attiswil.Gingins-La Serra & Forel, pp. ix–x; pp. 3–5. In addition to confirming previous grants, Henry gave the diocese the places called Muratum, Lustriacum, Carbarissa, Corise, Cubizaca, Leuco and Natres.These were: Morat, Lutry, Corsier, Chexbres, Leuck, and Natres. Gingins-La Serra & Forel, pp. xi–xii. These are mentioned in the bull "Cogit nos" of Pope Alexander III of 17 October 1179, in which he takes the diocese of Lausanne under papal protection at the request of the recently elected Bishop Roger.Gingins-La Serra & Forel, pp. xi; pp. 24–27. The bull repeated similar bulls of Pope Innocent II (1138) and Eugene III (1146).
Thus the diocese included the town of Solothurn and part of its territory that part of the Canton of Bern which lay on the left bank of the River Aar, also Biel/Bienne, the Valley of St. Imier, Jougne and Les Longevilles in the Franche-Comté, the countships of Neuchâtel and Valangin, the greater part of the Canton of Vaud, the Canton of Fribourg, the countship of Gruyère and most of the Bernese Oberland.Gingins-La Serra & Forel, pp. xii–xiii, provide a summary of the domains of the bishop.
The present diocese includes the Cantons of Fribourg, Vaud and Neuchâtel.
Bishops
Bishop Marius of Avenches attended the Synod of Mâcon of 585.Maassen, "Concilia", pp. 163–173 The "Chartularium of Lausanne"G. Waitz (ed.), in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptorum, Tomus XXIV (Hanover, 1879), p. 794; also in Mémoires et documents publiés par la Société de la Suisse Romande, VI, (Lausanne, 1851), p. 29. affirms that St. Marius was born in the Burgundian Diocese of Autun about 530, was consecrated Bishop of Avenches in May 574 and died on 31 December 594.For his epitaph in verse, formerly in the church of St. Thyrsius at Lausanne, see Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptorum, vol. XXIV, p. 795. Conon d'Estevayer says that both Marius and Bishop Chilmegesilus were buried in S. Thyrsius: Dupraz, La Cathedrale de Lausanne, p. 21. Marius wrote an addition (455–581) to the Chronicle of St. Prosper of Aquitaine.Patrologia Latina, Vol. LXXII, pp. 793–802; also in: Monumenta Germaniae historica: Auctorum antiquissimorum, , Volume 11 (Berlin: Weidmann, 1894), pp. 227–239. The episcopal see of Avenches may have been transferred to Lausanne by Marius, or possibly not before 610.Gregor Reinhold, "Lausanne and Geneva (Lausannensis et Genevensis)," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 9 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910); retrieved: 11 February 2024.
The most distinguished subsequent bishops are: Heinrich von Lenzburg (d. 1019), who rebuilt the cathedral, which was completed 1000;Dupraz, La Cathédrale de Lausanne, pp. 24–27. Schmitt, vol. 1, pp. 332–333. Hugo (1019–1037), a son of Rudolf III of Burgundy, in 1037 proclaimed the "Peace of God"; Burkart von Oltingen (1057–1089), one of the most devoted adherents of Emperor Henry IV, with whom he was banished, and made the pilgrimage to Canossa; Guido von Merlen (1130–1144), a correspondent of Bernard of Clairvaux; Amadeus of Hauterive, a Cistercian (1144–1459), who wrote homilies in honour of the Blessed Virgin.Jacques-Paul Migne (ed.), Patrologiae cursus completus: Series Latina, Volume 188 (Paris: Apud Garnier Fratres, 1855), pp. 1277–1348. During the administration of Bishop Amedeus, Pope Eugenius III visited Lausanne between 14 and 20 May 1148.Philippus Jaffé, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum Tomus II, (Leipzig: Veit 1888), p. 57.
Boniface of Brussels (1231–1239) was formerly a master in the Sorbonne University of Paris and head of the cathedral school at Cologne; he resigned because of physical ill-treatment, and was later appointed auxiliary bishop at Liège and then at Utrecht.Eubel, Hierarchia catholica Vol. 1, p. 296 with note 1. See D. Rattinger, "Der hl. Bonifaz, Universitätsprofessor zu Paris, Domscholaster zu Köln, Bischof von Lausanne, Weihbischof in Brabant und den Niederlanden", in: Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, , vol. 50 (Fribourg, 1896), pp. 10–23, 139–157. The Benedictine Louis de la Palud (1432–1440) took part in the Councils of Konstanz (1414), Pavia-Siena (1423) and Basel (1431) and at Basel, in January 1432, was chosen Bishop of Lausanne, against Jean de Prangins, the chapter's choice; Palud was later vice-chamberlain of the conclave, in which Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy was elected Antipope Felix V, by whom he was made a cardinal.
Bishop George of SaluzzoHe names himself "Nos Georgius de Saluciis dei et apostolice sedis gratia Lausannensis Episcopus et Comes", not "Princeps". was a notable episcopal legislator. On 17 May 1453, he formalised an agreement with the canons of the cathedral as a set of Statutes."Jurisdiction and Rights of the Cathedral Chapter of Lausanne", in: Mémoires et documents publiés par la Société d'histoire de la Suisse romande, , Volume 7 (Lausanne: La Société, 1846), pp. 545–562. On 2 June 1453, he published statutes and regulations for the episcopal court of the Official.Mémoires et documents publiés par la Société d'histoire de la Suisse romande,, pp. 563–581. He also published synodical constitutions for the reform of the clergy; Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1472–1476) in 1503 ascended the papal throne as Pope Julius II.
Meanwhile, the bishops of Lausanne, who had been Counts of Vaud since the time of Rudolph III of Burgundy (1011), and until 1218 subject only to imperial authority, were in 1270 granted the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire, but their temporal power only extended over a small part of the diocese, namely over the city and district of Lausanne, as well as a few towns and villages in the Cantons of Vaud and Fribourg; on the other hand, the bishops possessed many vassals among the most distinguished of the patrician families of what is now western Switzerland.
Diocesan government For the government of the diocese there were, besides the bishop, two vicars-general, one living at Geneva, the other at Fribourg.Reymond, pp. 69–74. Though the office existed in the church for more than a century, the earliest known vicar-general in Lausanne was Bishop Joannes of Lacedaemon (1299–1300).Reymond, p. 73 (with a list of the known vicars-general). There was, moreover, a provicarius generalis, who is also chancellor of the diocese, and a secretary.
Advocates At least as early as 813, at the Council of Mainz, summoned by Charlemagne, the bishops advised all bishops and abbots, as well as the whole clergy, that they should have good vicedomini, provosts, and advocates or defenders.Albert Werminghoff (ed.), Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Legum sectio III. Concilia, , Vol. 2 (Hannover: Hahn 1904), p. 272: "Omnibus igitur episcopis, abbatibus cunctoque clero omnino praecipimus vicedominos, praepositos, advocatos sive defensores bonos habere, non malos, non crudeles, non cup-idos, non periurs, non falsitatem amantes [...]" An advocate Trogo is known at Lausanne in 885, and an Elduin in 896. A count Anselm, perhaps a count of Equestres, is recorded between 926 and 954.Reymond, pp. 93–94.
The guardianship of the ecclesiastical property (advocati, avoués) of the seeReymond, pp. 92–101. was in the hands of the counts of Genevois by the end of the 11th century;Count Aimon: Reymond, p. 95. then the lords of Gerenstein, the dukes of Zähringen (c. 1156);The office of advocate was assigned to them by Frederick Barbarossa: Reymond, p. 96. the counts of Kyburg (1218);Reymond, p. 97 and finally the counts (later dukes) of Savoy. These guardians, whose only duty originally was the protection of the diocese, enlarged their jurisdiction at the expense of the diocesan rights and even filled the episcopal see with members of their families.