Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon


[Image:Frejuscathedrale.jpg|thumb|250px|Co-Cathedral of Saint Léonce in Fréjus]
The Diocese of Fréjus–Toulon is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern France on the Mediterranean coast. The present diocese comprises the territory of the ancient Diocese of Fréjus as well as that of the ancient Diocese of Toulon. In 1957 it was renamed the Diocese of Fréjus–Toulon.
Under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy the département of Var constituted a diocese, absorbing the former ancient dioceses of Toulon, Fréjus, Grasse and Vence. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801, re-established ineffectually by that of 1817, and definitively established in 1823, when its assigned territory comprised once more the whole département of Var. A Papal Brief of 1852 authorized the bishop to assume the title of Bishop of Fréjus and Toulon. It was and has remained a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles,
The arrondissement of Grasse until 1860 belonged to the département of Var, when it was annexed to that of the Alpes-Maritimes. In 1886 it was separated from Fréjus and attached to the Diocese of Nice.
Since 7 January 2025, the Bishop of Fréjus–Toulon has been Bishop François Touvet.
WWW Official Site𝕏 DioceseToulonFB diocesefrejustoulon

History

Christianity would seem to have been introduced into Fréjus in the fourth century. In 374 a certain Acceptus, who had just been elected to the See of Fréjus, falsely declared himself guilty of some crimes in order to rid himself of the episcopal dignity. At the Council of Valence, which met in July of 374, he begged the Church to name another in his place. The Council decided that his actions made it inappropriate for him to be consecrated a bishop.
Fréjus was completely destroyed by the Saracens in the early tenth century. It was Bishop Riculfus who began the reconstruction of the cathedral.
The following are named among the bishops of this see:

Bishops

To 1000

  • before 419 – 433: Leontius
  • 433–455: Theodorus
  • 463–465: Asterius
  • 475?: Auxilius
  • 484?–506: Victorinus
  • ? 524: Joannes
  • 527–529: Lupercianus
  • 541: Dionysius
  • 549–554: Expectatus
  • 582: Epiphanius
  • 636: Martin
  • ...
  • 909–911: Benedict
  • 949–952: Gontar
  • 973–1000?: Riculfus

1000 to 1300

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1800

Under Louis XIV, who enjoyed the right to nominate bishops to all French sees with the exception of Metz, Verdun and Toul, the See of Fréjus was often an early stepping-stone for careers of clerics whose ambitions lay elsewhere.
nephew of Cardinal Niccolò Fieschi

From 1800

[Image:Dominique Rey par Claude Truong-Ngoc avril 2013.jpg|thumb|190px|Bishop Dominique Marie Jean Rey]Suppressed 1801–1822

Saints

The Island of Lérins, well known as the site of the celebrated monastery founded there in 410, was sold in 1859 by the bishop of Fréjus to an English purchaser. A number of the saints of Lérins are especially honoured in the diocese. Among them are Sts. Honoratus, Caesarius, Hilary, and Virgilius, all of whom became archbishop of Arles; Quinidius, Bishop of Vaison; Valerius, Bishop of Nice; Maximus, Bishop of Riez; Veranus and Lambertus, both Bishop of Vence; Vincent of Lérins, author of the Commonitorium, and his brother Lupus, Bishop of Troyes; Agricola, Bishop of Avignon; Aigulphus and Porcarius, martyrs; St. Tropesius, martyr during the persecution of Emperor Nero; St. Louis of Toulouse, a native of Brignoles, in the Diocese of Toulon, and later Archbishop of Toulouse; and the virgin St. Roseline, prioress of the monastery of La Celle-Roubaud, who died in 1329, and whose shrine, situated at Les Arcs near Draguignan, has been for six centuries a place of pilgrimage, are likewise especially honoured in the diocese.
The sojourn in 1482 of St. Francis of Paola at Bormes and at Fréjus, where he caused the cessation of the plague, made a lasting impression.

Studies

  • second edition
  • Font-Réaulx, J. de. ''La carte et la structure: Les évéques de Fréjus du VIe au XIIIe siècle''