History
Christian teaching reached Autun at a very early period, as we know from the famous funeral inscription, in classical Greek, of a certain Pectorius inscription of Pectorius which dates from the 3rd century. It was found in 1839 in the cemetery of St. Peter l'Estrier at Autun and makes reference to baptism and the Holy Eucharist.
Local recensions of the "Passion" of St. Symphorianus of Autun exhibit St. Polycarp on the eve of the persecution of Septimius Severus, assigning to St. Irenaeus two priests and a deacon (Saints Benignus, Andochius and Thyrsus), all three of whom depart for Autun. St. Benignus goes on to Langres, while the others remain at Autun. According to this legendary cycle, which dates from about the first half of the 6th century, it was not then believed at Autun that the city was an episcopal see in the time of St. Irenaeus (c. 140-211). St. Amator, whom Autun tradition designates as its first bishop, probably occupied the see about 250.
The first bishop known to history is Saint Reticius, an ecclesiastical writer, and contemporary of the Emperor Constantine I (306-337). The Bishop of Autun enjoyed until the late 20th century the right of wearing the (normally archiepiscopal) pallium, in virtue of a privilege accorded to the see in 599 by pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604).
During the Merovingian era it was a politically important see. Two Bishops of Autun figured prominently in political affairs: St. Syagrius of Autun, bishop during the second half of the 6th century, a contemporary of St. Germanus, bishop of Paris, who was a native of Autun, and Leodegar (St. Léger), bishop from 663 to 680, who came into conflict with Ebroin and put to death by order of Theoderic III.
The Abbaye de St. Martin was founded in 602 by Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia, and it was there that her remains were interred - the deposed monarch having been repeatedy racked for three days, torn apart by four horses, and then burnt on a pyre. When the abbey was destroyed in 1793, Brunhilda's sarcophagus was removed, and it is now in the Musée Lapidaire in Avignon.
Gabriel de Roquette was bishop from 1666 till 1702. According to Saint-Simon, he stood model for Molière's Tartuffe.
Much later, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the future diplomat, was Bishop of Autun from 1788 to 1790, when he resigned.
The bishop appointed in 1882 was Cardinal Perraud (d. 1906), member of the French Academy.
In the Diocese of Autun are yet to be seen the ruins of the Benedictine Abbey of Tournus and the great Abbey of Cluny, to which 2,000 monasteries were subject, and which gave to the Church the great pope Gregory VII (1073–85). Gelasius II (1118–19) died at Cluny, and there also was held the conclave that elected Calixtus II (1119–24).
The devotion to the Sacred Heart originated in the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial, founded in 1644, and now the object of frequent pilgrimages.
20th century incumbents include: Armand Le Bourgeois (1966–1987).
The current bishop is Benoit Rivière.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Diocese Of Autun
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