The ancient residential diocese of Orange in the Comtat Venaissin in Provence, a fief belonging to the papacy, was suppressed by the French government during the French Revolution. It was revived in 2009 as a titular see of the Catholic Church.
History
The city now called Orange in southern France was called Arausio in Roman times. It had been founded as a retirement colony for veterans of the Roman Army who had served under Augustus during his campaigns against Marc Antony. It became the seat of a bishop very probably towards the end of the 3rd century: at the Synod of Arles in 314, its bishop was represented by a priest named Faustinus. The first bishop of Arausio whose name is given in extant documents was Constantius, who took part in the Council of Aquileia, 381.Only two bishops from Gaul were brave enough to participate: Constantius of Orange and Proculus of Marseille: J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio III editio novissima (Florence 1759), pp. 599-601; 615. From the early 5th century, the see was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Arles.
Arausio hosted two important synods, in 441J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio editio novissima Tomus VI (Florence 1762), pp. 433-452. and 529.J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio editio novissima Tomus VIII (Florence 1762), pp. 711-724. The Second Council of Orange was of importance for its condemnation of what later came to be called Semipelagianism.
In 1516 Francis I of France ordered the union of the principality of Orange and the Dauphiné, the accomplishment of which was ordered by the Parliament of Grenoble in March 1517. This union made the Bishop of Orange subject as far as his temporal rights were concerned to the king of France. On 8 August 1520, King Francis granted Bishop Guillaume Pélissier an extra six months to make his submission to the Chambre des comptes of the Dauphiné.
In accordance with the Concordat of 1801, Pope Pius VII attached the territory of the diocese to the archdiocese of Avignon by the papal bull Qui Christi Domini of 29 November 1801. In 1817, after the fall of the Emperor Bonaparte and the return of the Bourbon monarchy, it was planned to restore the residential status of the bishopric in accordance with a new concordat, but the French parliament refused to ratify the concordat.
The ancient see of Arausio, therefore, is no longer a residential bishopric. In January 2009 Pope Benedict XVI revived the title for use as a titular see,David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy: Orange (Titular See). Retrieved: 2016-07-24 for auxiliary bishops of other dioceses and for curial bureaucrats to whom episcopal status is granted.Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 945. The title currently (since 27 January 2012) belongs to Archbishop Julio Murat, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and to Equatorial Guinea since 2018.David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy: Archbishop Julio Murat. Retrieved: 2016-07-24
Bishops
To 1000 A list of names of bishops before 347 was invented by Polycarpe de la Rivière but is unsupported by any evidence.The invented names are as follows: Saint Eutropius 69 AD; Saint Ebrantius, Saint Evran; Alixit; Auspicius; Thior; Dedonus; Saint Lucius (martyred in 261).
Faustinus in 314 attended the Council of Arles as a cleric accompanying the unnamed bishop of Orange, the first recorded bishop of Orange.Duchesne, p. 265. ? Aristonus, 347 ? Eradius, c. 356 Constantius 381Constantius was at the council of Aquileia in 381, and the council of Milan in 390: Duchesne, p. 365. Duchesne recognizes neither Aristonus nor Eradius. Marin, 433 Justus, c. 440-c.455 Eutropius of Orange, c. 455-475 Verus Florentius of Orange, 517-524 Vindemialis, 527-549 Matthieu, 555 Trapecius, 584 Salicus, 788-798 Damasus, c. 804 Boniface, c. 820-839 Laudon, c. 840 Pons I, c. 852 Gérard I, 855-c. 862 Boniface II*, 860 Oldaricus*, 866 Gérard II, 879 Bonnaricus I, 899 Ebroinus, 910Resigned because of ill health (Bastet, p. 94) Pontius (Pons) II, 914 Bonnaricus II*, 930 Salitoneus*, 940 Ingelbertus*, 952 Richard*, 968 Segaldus*, 980 Bertrand*, 994 Aldebrand I*, 1005 Berniconius*, 1020 Aldebrand II*, 1026 Pons III*, 1032
The last ten bishops of the 10th and 11th centuries are completely unattested.Bastet, p. 97, note 1.
1000 to 1300
Odalric c.1040On 15 October 1040 he was present at the consecration of the church of Saint Victor in Marseille by Pope Benedict IX. In 1056 he was present at a synod of bishops that met at St. Egidius in Languedoc (Saint-Gilles). Bastet, p. 98. Martin 1058 Geraldus de Asteri (Géraud) c.1060Bastet, pp. 98-100. In 1064 he received a letter from Pope Alexander II: P. Jaffe, Regesta pontificum romanorum I editio altera (Leipzig 1885), p. 574, no. 4551; cf. no. 4710. Guillaume I c.1080-1098 Bérenger 1107-1127 Gérard 1128-1129 Guillaume II 1130-1138 Guillaume III 1139-1140 Bernard 1141-c.1170 Pierre I 1173 Hugues Florent c.1180 ArnoulUnable to carry out his episcopal functions for four years due to leprosy, Bishop Arnaud was given a Coadjutor, with permission of Pope Innocent III, who pointed out that the Archbishop of Arles did not have the power to separate a bishop from his See himself: Pope Innocent III refers to Arnoul's situation in a letter of 2 December 1204 to the Archbishop of Arles: Patrologia Latina Volume 215, pp. 474-475. A. Potthast Regesta pontificum Romanorum I, 2335. 1182 - after 1204 Guillaume ElieCoadjutor of Bishop Arnoul until his death, then Bishop of Orange in his own right. after 1204-1221 Amicus 1222-c.1240 Pierre II c.1240-1271 Josselin 1272-c.1278 Guillaume D'EspinouseHe was consecrated on Christmas Eve, 1281, by Bertrand d'Amalric, Archbishop of Aix: On 12 March 1294, he took the oath of homage to Bertrand III, Prince of Orange: On 23 April 1308 he was notified by Charles II of Naples that Jacques Duèse was to be named Chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily: Melanie Brunner, in: In November 1315 Bishop Guillaume was assigned by the Rector of the Comtat de Venaissin, Raymond Guilhem, to adjudicate a number of legal issues brought by various barons of the area: 1281-1321
1300 to 1500
Rostaing I 1322-1324 Hugues 1324-1328 Pierre III 1329-1342 Guillaume VII 1343-1348 Jean de Revol 1349-1350 Guillaume VIII 1350-1351 François de Caritat 1373-1387Gallia christiana novissima: Orange, pp. 35 and 138. Pierre Didaci 1389-1413 Pierre D'Ailly 1413-1417 (Administrator) (resigned)Eubel, I, p. 118. Georges de Grano 1418-1420 Guillaume IX 1420-1428 (transferred to Cassano in s. Italy)Eubel, I, p. 170. Guillaume X 1429-v.1447 Bertrand III 1438-v.1442 Antoine Ferrier v.1444-1450 Jean Payer 1454-1466 Guyot Adhémar 1466-1468 Jean Gobert 1468-1476 Pierre de Surville 1476-1480 Laurent Alleman 1481-1483 Pierre Carré, O.P.He was the confessor of the Duc de Bourgogne, uncle of King Charles VIII of France, who wrote to the Pope requesting his appointment. 1483-1510
1500 to 1790
Guillaume PélissierFor the first eight years of his tenure there were two bishops of Orange, one elected by the Chapter of the Cathedral, with the consent of the Prince of Orange (Pélissier), and the other appointed by Pope Julius II (Jean Lefranc). After the Concordat of Bologna (1516) and the incorporation of Orange into the Dauphiné, Leo X confirmed Guillaume Pélissier. Bastet, p. 191. 1510-1527 Louis Pélissier 1527-1542 Rostaing de La Baume de Suze, O.Cist.He was appointed by the King of France: Eubel, III, p. 123. He had been Abbot of the monastery of Mazan in the diocese of Noyon. Bastet, pp. 211-213. 1543-1560 Philippe de La Chambre de Maurienne, O.S.B. 1560-1572 (resigned)Bastet, pp. 218-223. On entering his See, he discovered that the city of Orange and all of the churches were occupied by the Huguenots. The Third War of Religion made his position impossible. Jean de Tulles I 1572-1608 Jean de Tulles II 1608-1640 Jean Vincent de Tulles 1640-1647 (transferred to Lavaure)27 May 1647: Eubel-Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 360. He died 3/4 December 1668. Hyacinthe Serroni 1647-1661 (transferred to Mende)8 August 1661: Eubel-Gauchat, p. 242. Alexandre Fabri 1661-1674 Jean-Jacques D`ObheilHe was consecrated in Paris, in the church of the Celestines, in 1677: 1677-1720 Louis Chomel 1720-1731 François-André de Tilly 1731-1774 Guillaume-Louis du Tillet 1774-1790, last bishop
See also Catholic Church in France List of Catholic dioceses in France
Notes
Bibliography Reference works pp. 591–592. (Use with caution; obsolete) (in Latin) p. 117-118. (in Latin) p. 119. p. 123. p. 102. p. 106. p. 107.
Studies
second edition (in French)