Archbishops of Rennes

Archbishops Of Rennes

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes (Lat:Archdiocesis Rhedonensis) 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: Diocese of Angers, Diocese of Laval, Diocese of Le Mans, Diocese of Luçon, Diocese of Nantes, Diocese of Quimper, and the Diocese of Saint-Brieuc 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, 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.