Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon

Catholic diocese in France

The Diocese of Fréjus–Toulon (Latin: Dioecesis Foroiuliensis–Tolonensis; French: Diocèse de 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 as 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 16 May 2000, the Bishop of Fréjus–Toulon has been Bishop Dominique Marie Jean Rey.

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 (1274–1297), 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.

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