The Diocese of Perpignan–Elne (Latin: Dioecesis Elnensis; French: Diocèse de Perpignan–Elne; Catalan: Bisbat de Perpinyà–Elna) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in France."Diocese of Perpignan-Elne" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016. "Diocese of Perpignan-Elne" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016. The diocese comprises the Department of Pyrénées-Orientales.

The Diocese of Elne was a suffragan of the Diocese of Narbonne until 1511. Pope Julius II made the Diocese of Elne directly subject to the Holy See in 1511, but on 22 January 1517 Pope Leo X reversed the policy, and the Diocese of Elne became again a suffragan of the Diocese of Narbonne.Gallia christiana VI (1739), Instrumenta, pp. 492-497. In 1582, by virtue of a Decree of the Council of Trent, Pope Gregory XIII made it a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tarragona.Gallia christiana VI (1739), p. 1030. After 1678 it was again a suffragan of the Diocese of Narbonne.

The residence of the bishop of Elne and the seat of the diocese were moved from Elne to Perpignan, by Pope Clement VIII in 1601.Perpignan-Elne (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]. Its territory brought together the Diocese of Elne, part of the Spanish Diocese of Urgell known as French Cerdagne, three cantons of the Diocese of Alet, and two villages of the Diocese of Narbonne.

Its see is the Perpignan Cathedral (French: Basilique-Cathédrale de Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Perpignan; Catalan: Catedral de Sant Joan Baptista de Perpinyà).

History

The Diocese of Elne was created in the 6th century. The first known Bishop of Elne was Dominus, mentioned in 571 in the Chronicle of John of Biclarum. The diocese of Elne was a suffragan of the diocese of Narbonne.Eubel I, p. 542, no. 16. B. Palustre & Archives départementales des Pyrénées-Orientales, Inventaire sommaire des archives départementales antérieures à 1790: Pyrénées-Orientales : Archives ecclésiastiques, Série G, , (Perpignan: l'Indépendant, 1904), p. IX: "Les conciles d'Espagne et la description des églises d'Espagne et de Septimanie ou de Gothie par le roi Vamba, vers 675, nous montrent les églises de Béziers, Agde, Maguelone, Nîmes, Lodève, Carcassonne et Elne soumises à Narbonne. Et de fait, l'église d'Elne, sous le patronage de sainte Eulalie dont elle possédait les reliques, est restée soumise à l'église de Narbonne jusqu'au xve siècle, où elle commença à secouer le joug sous l'influence des rois d'Espagne...."

The Cathedral of Elne (eleventh century) and the adjoining cloister are examples of elaborate medieval ornamentation. On 16 May 1025, the old church of Saint-Jean in Perpignan was consecrated by Bishop Berengarius (III).Puggiari, p. 20. On 13 July 1287, Bishop Berengarius fixed the number of canons in the cathedral Chapter of Elne at fifteen.Gallia christiana VI, "Instrumenta", pp. 489-490, no. XVIII.

In the later Middle Ages, and under the influence of Roman Law, Roussillon witnessed revivals of slavery; this is proved by numerous purchase deeds of Muslim and Christian slaves, dating back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.Philip Daileader, True Citizens: Violence, Memory, and Identity in the Medieval Community of Perpignan, 1162-1397 (Leiden-Boston: E.J. Brill 2021), pp. 63-64. Patrick Boucheron, Stéphane Gerson, France in the World: A New Global History (Editions du Seuil 2017; New York: Other Press, 2019), pp. 260-261.

On 3 June 1494, Caesar Borgia was named Abbot commendatory of the monastery of S. Michel de Cuxa in the diocese of Elne, by his father Pope Alexander VI. On 3 April 1495, the bishopric of Elne became vacant, and Caesar was immediately named Administrator, not being in episcopal orders. He took possession by procurator on 1 June 1495. He decided to raise the taxes on the clergy, resulting in an uprising in 1497. Those same taxes were cut in half the following year, after the clergy complained to the king. On 9 March 1499, Saint-Michel de Cuxa was in different hands, and by November 1499 there was a new bishop of Elne.Pierre Vidal, "Notes sur l'abbaye de Saint-Michel de Cuxa," , in: Bulletin philologique et historique Anne 1891 (Paris: Ernest Leroux 1891), pp. 110-127, at pp. 112-113.

Council of Perpignan At Perpignan Pope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna) held a council, set to open on 1 November 1408, to rally his partisans.Dieter Girgensohn, review of: Le concile de Perpignan (15 novembre 1408–26 mars 1409). Actes du colloque international (Perpignan, 24–26 janvier 2008). Edited by Hélène Millet. [Études roussillonnaises, Revue d’histoire et d’archéologie méditerranéennes, Tome XXIV.] (Canet en Roussillon, France: Éditions Trabucaire. 2009); retrieved: 2017-09-08. They gradually melted away and on 1 February 1409, the eighteen remaining bishops advised the antipope to send ambassadors to Pisa to negotiate with Pope Gregory XII.Hefele, Karl Joseph von (1874), Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux , Tome dixième (Paris: Adrien Le Clerc 1874), p. 245. The last actual meeting of the council took place on 26 March 1409, though it was not closed, only repeatedly prorogued.Franz Ehrle, "Aus den Acten des Afterconcils von Perpignan 1408," , Archiv fur Literatur- und Kirchengeschichte 7 (1900), pp. 692-694.

Synods A synod was held at Toulanges (in prato Tulujes) in the diocese of Elne, on 16 May 1027, presided over by Bishop Oliva of Vich, because Bishop Berenguer (1019–1030) was at the time a pilgrim in foreign parts (tunc temporis in transmarinis partibus peregrini). The synod decided to impose a ban on fighting between the 9th hour on Saturday until the first hour of Monday, under penalty of excommunication; and ordered that Holy Mass be said for the excommunicated for a space of three months, to obtain their return to communion.J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, , Volume 19 (Venice: A. Zatta 1774), pp. 483-484. Puggiari, pp. 20-21.

Another synod was held in 1058. On 2 January 1114, by mandate of Pope Paschal II, and presided over by Bishop Petrus Bernardi of Elne with the assistance of Bishop Berengarius of Gerona and Bishop Gualterius of Maguelonne, a judicial assembly was held to decide the claims of the monastery of Cuxa and the monastery of Arulena.J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio Tomus XXV, pp. 90-91. Synods were also held in 1335, 1337, 1338, 1339, 1340, and 1380.

Bihop Philippe-Olympe Gerbet (1853–1864) held a diocesan synod of Elne on 25–29 September 1853, and published the statutes.Synodi dioecesanae Elnensis acta et documenta, typis mandata iussu Olympii-Philippi Gerbet, episcopi Elnensis, (Perpiniani: typis Ioannis-Baptistae Alzine, 1856). A diocesan synod was held in Elne in September 1893.Statuta synodalia diœcesis Elnensis, ab Natali-Matthæo-Victore-Maria Gaussail episcopo Elnensi promulgata in synodo habita diebus 28 et 29 septembris anno Domini 1893 (Perpignan: Latrobe, 1894).

Move of episcopal residence from Elne to Perpignan In 1230, the bishops of Elne had appropriated the revenues of the major chaplaincy of the church of Saint-Jean in Perepignan,B Palustre, Inventaire sommaire des archives départementales antérieures à 1790: Pyrénées-Orientales : Archives ecclésiastiques, Série G, , (Perpignan: l'Indépendant, 1904), p. XVIII: "On sait que le nom de collégiale sert à désigner une église non cathédrale desservie par un collège de chanoines. Il y avait à Perpignan deux collégiales, Saint-Jean et la Réal.... La collégiale Saint-Jean de Perpignan fut supprimée en 1611." and thereafter resided from time to time in the cloister of that church. From 1389, they began to petition the papacy for permission to move their residence from Elne to the collegiate church of Saint-Jean, though they were regularly rebuffed.B. Palustre, p. X.

By the end of the 16th century the city of Elne had become severely run-down. It was victim both of attacks from Protestant neighbors and from sea raiders. The nobility and leading citizens as well as some of the canons of the cathedral had moved long since, and only the working class remained, amounting to no more than 240 families (domos).Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 181, note 1. King Philip III of Spain, who was also prince of Catalonia and count of Roussillon and Cerdanya, and the bishop of Elne along with the canons of Elne and of Perpignan, approached Pope Clement VIII with the desirability of moving to the fortified city of Perpignan, which was farther from the sea and was the center of local royal government,Perpignan had been the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca. B. Palustre & Archives départementales des Pyrénées-Orientales, Inventaire sommaire des archives départementales antérieures à 1790: Pyrénées-Orientales : Archives ecclésiastiques, Série G, , (Perpignan: l'Indépendant, 1904), p. XVII. and yet only six miles from Elne.Bullarum, Diplomatum, et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum, Taurensis editio , Tomus X (Turin: Sebastiano Franco 1865), pp. 723-731.

On 1 September 1601, therefore, Pope Clement VIII issued the bull "Superna dispositione," agreeing to the move of the episcopal seat of Elne to the church of S. Jean in Perpignan. The canons of the cathedral of Elne were also moved to Perpignan.Bullarum, Diplomatum..., pp. 723-731. The name of the diocese and the title of the bishop, however, were not changed.Puggiari, pp. 101-102, drawing attention to the erroneous statement of Gallia christiana in stating that the bishop was bishop of Perpignan, and that the church of St. John was a cathedral. The bull (p. 727, col. 1) specifically states: "civitate et Ecclesia Elnensi, quoad nomen, titulum, denominalionem et existentiam cathedralis, aliisque pristinis iuribus, necnon omnibus illius benefìciatis, caeterisque ministris, qui ex nunc deinceps horas canonicas, missam conventualem, et alia divina ofTìcia per se ipsos in eadem celebrare, illique alias in huiusmodi divinis deservire, et ex illis supradicti duo beneficiati hebdomadarii perpetuam animarum curam, ut prius, exercere, et sacramenta ecclesiastica administrare teneantur, sub dominio tamen, gubernio et iurisdictione episcopi et capituli Elnensium praefatorum, prout antea, remanentibus, ipsaque iurisdictione eorumdem episcopi et Capituli Elnensium, etiam quoad illos, ac alias in omnibus, et per omnia illaesa simililer, ut prius subsistente." As late as the 1890s, it was the bishop of Elne who held a synod of the diocese of Elne.Statuta synodalia diœcesis Elnensis, ab Natali-Matthæo-Victore-Maria Gaussail episcopo Elnensi promulgata in synodo habita diebus 28 et 29 septembris anno Domini 1893 (in Latin) (Perpignan: Latrobe, 1894)

At the time of the French Revolution, the city of Perpignan was host to twelve religious orders of males. In 1723, the Augustinians had 14 members, but in 1789 only 7. The Discalced Augustinians in the same period had declined from 14 to 10, and the Carmelites from 12 to 5. The Capuchins had decline from 10 to 4, and their convent was demolished during the Revolution. The Franciscans dropped from 24 to 6, the Minims from 12 to 5, the Dominicans from 20 to 6.Torreilles, pp. 31-33. The Jesuits, who had been in the diocese of Elne since 1601, had been expelled from France in 1762.Philippe Torreilles, Le collège de Perpignan, depuis ses origines jusqu'à nos jours, (Perpignan: Latrobe 1893). There were four institutions for women: the convent of Saint-Claire with 26 residents, the 15 canonesses of Saint-Saveur, the 15 Dominican sisters, and the 20 Benedictine nuns of the congregation of Béziers.Torreilles, pp. 33-35.

French Roussilon