Roman Catholic Diocese of Annecy

The Diocese of Annecy (Dioecesis Anneciensis; Diocèse d'Annecy) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France, located 26 miles (42km) south of Geneva. Saint-Gingolph VS, a town in the Swiss canton of Valais, is also part of the diocese. Originally erected in 1822, after the Concordat as a suffragan (ecclesiastical subordinate) of the archdiocese of Chambéry, the diocese of Annecy is composed of the entirety of the department of Haute-Savoie in the Region of Rhône-Alpes.

On 8 December 2002, the archdiocese of Chambéry was demoted to the rank of simple diocese, and along with its suffragan dioceses was transferred to the metropolitan Archdiocese of Lyon.

The current bishop of Annecy is Yves Le Saux, appointed in 2022. As of 2015 there was one priest for every 3,279 Catholics.

History
From 1535 to 1801 the bishops of Geneva, exiled by the Reformation from Geneva, lived at Annecy. The canons of the cathedral Chapter of Geneva were also forced to migrate to Annecy, Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva, living in Annecy, from 1602 to 1622.

Bishop Juste Guérin of Geneva (1639–1645) attempted to improve the quality of his clergy by instituting a seminar for candidates for ordination lasting ten days. Bishop Jean d’Arenthon d’Alex (1661–1695) attempted to create a real seminary, beginning in 1688, for persons who had already completed their basic training in philosophy and theology; its course was to last ten months. He also established quarterly retreats at the seminary, and made attendance a requirement for any priest to receive a license to hear confessions.

In 1792, Savoy was invaded and occupied by forces of the French National Assembly. Commissioners sent from Paris imposed a revolutionary government, and on 8 March 1793 issued an ecclesiastical decree which followed metropolitan French policy by reducing the number of dioceses from 5 to 1, to be centered in Annecy and called the diocese of Mont-Blanc. Four of the five bishops then in office went into exile; the fifth was too aged. Electors, who did not have to be Catholic or even Christian, were to meet and elect a bishop, who would be required to take the usual oaths to the French Constitution. Papal participation in any form was forbidden. These arrangements were uncanonical and schismatic.

From 1801 to 1822, Annecy belonged to the Diocese of Chambéry and Geneva. Annecy was made an episcopal see on 15 February 1822, by the papal bull Sollicita catholici gregis.

By the Treaty of Turin between the French Emperor, Napoleon III, and the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, signed on 24 March 1860, Savoy and Nice were annexed by France. On 31 December 1860, Pope Pius IX sent an apostolic brief to the archbishop of Chambéry and the bishop of Annecy, announcing that, inasmuch as they were now part of the French Empire, the terms of the apostolic letter of Pope Pius VII of 15 July 1801, and the bull "Ecclesia Christi" of 18 September 1801, now were held to apply to their dioceses as well.

A Commission for Physical Resources was created in 1966, and a new policy for management of property was set in place.

Notables of the diocese
The memory of Bernard of Menthon, founder of the hospice of the Grand St. Bernard, is still honoured in the Diocese of Annecy.

Bishop Francis de Sales of Geneva and Jane Frances de Chantal founded the Congregation of the Visitation at Annecy in 1610. The house in Annecy was closed by the French revolutionary government in 1792, and not restored until 1824. The remains of the founders are preserved in the Church of the Visitation at Annecy. Due to the increasing urbanization of Annecy after World War II, the house of the contemplative Visitation Order had to be moved from Annecy to Tournon.

The ancient Benedictine abbey of Talloires is near the Lac d'Annecy.

Bishops of Annecy

 * Claude-François de Thiollaz (21 Apr 1822 Appointed – 14 Mar 1832 Died)
 * Pierre-Joseph Rey (1832–1842)
 * Louis Rendu (25 Aug 1842 Appointed – 28 Aug 1859 Died)
 * Charles-Marie Magnin (11 Dec 1860 Appointed – 14 Jan 1879 Died)
 * Louis-Romain-Ernest Isoard (9 May 1879 Appointed – 3 Aug 1901 Died)
 * Pierre-Lucien Campistron (1902–1921)
 * Florent-Michel-Marie-Joseph du Bois de la Villerabel (21 Nov 1921 Appointed – 1940)
 * Auguste-Léon-Alexis Cesbron (30 Sep 1940 Appointed – 13 Jul 1962 Died)
 * Jean-Baptiste-Étienne Sauvage (28 Sep 1962 Appointed – 27 Sep 1983 Retired)
 * Hubert Marie Pierre Dominique Barbier (19 May 1984 Appointed – 2000)
 * Yves Boivineau (7 May 2001 Appointed – 27 Jun 2022 Retired)
 * Yves Le Saux (27 Jun 2022 Appointed – present)

Reference works

 * (Use with caution; obsolete)

Studies

 * Baud, Henri; Binz, Louis (1985). Le Diocèse de Genève-Annecy. . Annecy: Editions Beauchesne, 1985.