The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin:
Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis; French: Archidiocèse
de Sens et Auxerre) is a Latin Rite Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic
Church in France. The Archdiocese comprises the department of Yonne,
which is in the region of Bourgogne. Traditionally established in
sub-apostolic times, the diocese as metropolis of Quarta Lugdunensis
subsequently achieved metropolitical status. For a time, the
Archbishop of Sens held the title "Primate of the Gauls and Germania".
Until 1622, the Metropolitan Archdiocese numbered seven suffragan
(subordinate) dioceses: the dioceses of Chartres, Auxerre, Meaux,
Paris, Orléans, Nevers and Troyes, which inspired the acronym
CAMPONT. The Diocese of Bethléem at Clamecy was also dependent on the
metropolitan see of Sens. On December 8, 2002, as part of a general
reorganization of the dioceses of France undertaken, at least in part,
to respond to demographic changes, the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre
ceased to have metropolitan rank and became a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Dijon, which became the centre of a new ecclesiastical
province for the Burgundy administrative region. Consequently the
Archbishop of Sens-Auxerre no longer has the privilege of wearing the
pallium. The current archbishop is Yves François Patenôtre.Until the
French Revolution, the Archbishop of Sens was also Viscount of Sens.
In 1622, Paris had been elevated to a metropolitan see and the Sees of
Chartres, Orléans and Meaux were separated from the ecclesiastical
province of Sens. In return, the abbey of Mont Saint-Martin in the
Diocese of Cambrai was united to the archdiocese. Sens was suppressed
by the Napoleonic Concordat of 1802, which annexed to the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Troyes the Dioceses of Sens and Auxerre. The
somewhat complex agreement gave the title of Bishop of Auxerre to the
bishops of Troyes, and the purely honorary title of Archbishop of Sens
to the Archbishop of Paris (otherwise deprived of all jurisdiction
over Sens). The Concordat of 1817 reestablished the Archdiocese of
Sens and the Diocese of Auxerre, but this arrangement did not last.
The law of July 1821, the pontifical brief of 4 September 1821 and the
royal ordinance of 19 October 1821 suppressed the Diocese of Auxerre
and gave to the Archdiocese of Sens the Department of the Yonne and
the Dioceses of Troyes, Nevers and Moulins. A papal brief of 3 June
1823 gave to the Archbishop of Sens the additional title of Bishop of
Auxerre. The Archbishop of Sens-Auxerre continued to reside at Sens
until the 1920s, but is now resident at Auxerre, while his cathedra
(seat) is at Sens Cathedral..Until the French Revolution, the
Archbishop of Sens was also Viscount of Sens. In 1622, Paris had been
elevated to a metropolitan see and the Sees of Chartres, Orléans and
Meaux were separated from the ecclesiastical province of Sens. In
return, the abbey of Mont Saint-Martin in the Diocese of Cambrai was
united to the archdiocese. Sens was suppressed by the Napoleonic
Concordat of 1802, which annexed to the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Troyes the Dioceses of Sens and Auxerre. The somewhat complex
agreement gave the title of Bishop of Auxerre to the bishops of
Troyes, and the purely honorary title of Archbishop of Sens to the
Archbishop of Paris (otherwise deprived of all jurisdiction over
Sens). The Concordat of 1817 reestablished the Archdiocese of Sens and
the Diocese of Auxerre, but this arrangement did not last. The law of
July 1821, the pontifical brief of 4 September 1821 and the royal
ordinance of 19 October 1821 suppressed the Diocese of Auxerre and
gave to the Archdiocese of Sens the Department of the Yonne and the
Dioceses of Troyes, Nevers and Moulins. A papal brief of 3 June 1823
gave to the Archbishop of Sens the additional title of Bishop of
Auxerre. The Archbishop of Sens-Auxerre continued to reside at Sens
until the 1920s, but is now resident at Auxerre, while his cathedra
(seat) is at Sens Cathedral..The history of the religious beginnings
of the church at Sens dates from Savinian and Potentian, and through
legend to the Dioceses of Chartres, Troyes and Orléans. Gregory of
Tours is silent regarding Savinian and Potentian, founders of the See
of Sens; the Hieronymian Martyrology, which was revised before 600 at
Auxerre (or Autun) ignores them. The cities of Chartres and Troyes
have nothing about these men in their local liturgy prior to the 12th
century, and that of Orléans nothing prior to the 15th, pertaining to
the preaching of Altinus, Eodaldus and Serotinus (companions of
Savinian and Potentian). Before the ninth century there was (in the
cemetery near the monastery of Pierre le Vif at Sens) a group of
tombs, among which are those of the first bishops of Sens. In 847, the
transfer of their remains to the church of St-Pierre le Vif inspired
popular devotion towards Savinian and Potentian. In 848, Wandelbert of
Prüm named them the first patrons of the church of Sens. Ado, in his
martyrology published shortly afterwards, speaks of them as envoys of
the apostles and as martyrs. The Martyrology of Usuard (around 875)
depicts them as envoys of the "Roman pontiff" and martyrs. In the
middle of the 10th century the relics of these two saints were hidden
in a subterranean vault of the Abbey of St-Pierre le Vif to escape the
pillage of the Hungarians, but in 1031 they were placed in a reliquary
established by the monk Odoranne. This monk (in a chronicle published
about 1045) speaks of Altinus, Eodaldus, and Serotinus as apostolic
companions of Savinian and Potentian, but does not view them as
legitimate.In a document which (according to the Abbé Bouvier) dates
from the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the
seventhâ€"but according to Louis Duchesne, who labels the Gerbertine
legend as written in 1046 and 1079 under the inspiration of Gerbert,
Abbot of St-Pierre le Vifâ€"is first described a legend tracing to
Savinian and Potentian (and their companions) the evangelization of
the churches of Orléans, Chartres and Troyes. After some uncertainty,
the legend became fixed in the Chronicle of pseudo-Clarius, compiled
about 1120. The Christian faith could not have been preached at Sens
in the second century, but we know from Sidonius Apollinaris that in
475 the Church of Sens had its 13th bishop; the list of bishops does
not indicate that the episcopal see existed prior to the second half
of the third century or the beginning of the fourth. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens Top Movies & Young Movies