Paris has been an archdiocese for 400 years. His own story

Notre Dame de Paris at night
Photo: Twitter

Even today, every Good Friday, the Crown of Thorns is exhibited in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It’s at Paris was brought, in 1239, by the holy King Louis, who had bought it in the Holy Land. Paris was already the capital. Yet, at the ecclesiastical level, it was only a small suffragan diocese of the archdiocese of Sens, in the Yonne region. And in fact, King Louis stopped on his way to Sens, and had a mass celebrated in the Cathedral of St. Etienne. Issues of ecclesiastical hierarchies. Only on 20 October 1622 will Paris be elevated to a metropolitan archdiocesewith the bubble Orbis universesI make it a suffragan of the three dioceses of Chartres, Orleans and Meaux.

For its 400 years of existence, the archdiocese of Paris has published an interview with its historic father on its website Florian Pignaultwhich traced the historical significance of the elevation of Paris to a metropolitan archdiocese.

There are various factors. At the time, the archdiocese of Sens was, like many dioceses of the time, particularly extensive, and included at least seven suffragan dioceses: Chartres, Auxerre, Meaux, Paris, Orleans, Nevers and Troyes.

Sens had long been the primatial diocese of Gaul and Germany, before the title was attributed to the archbishop of Lyon. Its importance was an ancient legacy, linked to the history of the Roman Empire and the fact that the North of France slowly Christianized.

But in the 17th century, Sens had now lost its importance. At the same time, Paris, from the capital, had grown considerably, and had also become an attractive center for religious congregations. For instance, Pierre de Bérulle he brought the Carmelites to Paris.

This vitality religious of Paris will lead to the foundation of various seminaries and the so-called “French school of spirituality”, namely the religious priests of St. Sulpice, the Lazarists of San Vincenzo de ‘Paoli. But, above all, Paris was by now a political, economic and religious center.

Thus, it was decided that it would become an archdiocese, and an income will also go to Sens to compensate him for the loss of four dioceses. And this despite the fact that the metropolitan archdioceses no longer had the power they once hadwhen they could convene local councils and influence the appointments of bishops.

However, the political impact of the decision to make Paris an archdiocese is played out precisely on the appointment of bishops. There was a concordat that regulated the relations of the Kingdom of France of the Church, the Concordat of Bologna. Under this agreement, the main episcopal appointments were in the hands of the king, but the bishops exercised some influence.

And at the time, there was a rather powerful family in Paris, that of the Gondi. They were very devoted. They protected San Vincenzo de ‘Paoli.

The decision to make Paris a metropolitan archdiocese makes Jean François de Gondi the first archbishop of Paris. It will be the first of a series of four archbishops of the city belonging to the same family.

The de Gondi family therefore took advantage of the decision to elevate Paris to an archdiocese. But also the King Louis XIII took advantage of itbecause its capital had a new religious weight and could therefore be placed at the head of an authority reaffirmed after the wars of religion.

Paris has been an archdiocese for 400 years. His own story