The (Roman Catholic) Diocese of Metz is a territorial subdivision of the Catholic church in France. Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (the Latin Rite), designates the particular Church, within the Catholic Church, which developed in western Europe and northern Africa, when Latin was the language of education and culture, and so also of the liturgy. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... The St Etienne cathedral in Metz, France was made in the 14th century by joining together two perpendicular churches : the nave of Saint-Etienne, built in the 13th century, was attached to the north side of an older Roman church. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... For other uses of Metz, see Metz (disambiguation) City motto: Si paix dedans, paix dehors (French: If peace inside, peace outside) City proper (commune) Région Lorraine Département Moselle (57) Mayor Jean-Marie Rausch Area 41. ...

History

Originally the diocese was under metropolitan of Trier. After the French Revolution, the last prince bishop, Cardinal Louis de Montmorency-Laval (1761-1802) fled and the old organization of the diocese was broken up. With the Concordat of 1801 the diocese was re-established covering the departments of Moselle, Ardennes, and Forêts, and was put under the Archdiocese of Besançon. In 1817 the parts of the diocese which became Prussian territory were slip off. In 1871 the whole diocese became part of Germany, and in 1874 became Immediately Subject to the Holy See. After World War I it was returned to France. The Bishopric and Archbishopric of Trier was one of the important ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. ... The Concordat of 1801 reaffirmed the Catholic Church as the major religion of France, increasing its status which had been reduced following the French Revolution because the French National Assembly had confiscated Church properties and issued the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which made the Church a department of the... The Archbishopric of Besançon was a tiny ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire. ...

Bishops

Main article: List of bishops of Metz

According to the traditional list of bishops, the current bishop Pierre René Ferdinand Raffin is already the 105th bishop of Metz. According to this list, the first bishop was Saint Clement, allegedly sent by Petrus himself to Metz. The first fully authenticated bishop however is Sperus or Hesperus, who was bishop in 535. Many of the bishops were declared holy or blessed, like Saint Arnulf (611-627), Saint Chrodegang (742-766) or Saint Agilram (768-791). Petrus comes from the Latin meaning rock, and is the common English prefix petro- used to describe rock-based substances, like petros-oleum or rock oil. ... Events Beginning of the Western Wei Dynasty in China. ... Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 – August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble who had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms as a bishop and was later canonized as a saint. ... Saint Chrodegang, bishop of Metz, was born in the early eighth century at Hasbania (now Belgian Limburg) of a noble Frankish family, and died at Metz, March 6, 766. ...

Bishops since 1900

• Willibrord Benzler, O.S.B., 1901-1919
• Jean-Baptiste Pelt, 1919-1937
• Joseph-Jean Heintz, 1038-1958
• Paul Joseph Schmitt, 1958-1987
• Pierre René Ferdinand Raffin, O.P., since 1987

Willibrord Benzler (October 16, 1853 - April 16, 1921) was the Roman-Catholic bishop of Metz 1901-1919. ...

External links

• Website of the diocese
• Catholic hierachy