Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajaccio

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajaccio (Adjax or Ajax in Latin), is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the whole of the island of Corsica.

Erected in the 3rd century, the diocese was formerly a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa. Since the French Concordat of 1801, the diocese has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Aix.

Its first bishop known to history was Evander, who assisted at the Council of Rome in 313.

Before the French Revolution, Corsica contained five other dioceses:

• diocese of Accia (vacant since 1563);
• diocese of Aléria, an ancient city of the Phocians, whose bishop resided at Corte;
• diocese of Sagone, a vanished city whose bishop resided at Calvi, while the Chapter was at Vico;
• diocese of Mariana, also a vanished city, whose bishop resided at Bastia;
• and diocese of Nebbio.

The Byzantine ruins at Mariana perpetuate the memory of the church built by the Pisans in the 12th century.

There is a legend that the bishops banished from Africa to Corsica in 484 by Hunneric, Arian King of the Vandals, built with their own hands the primitive cathedral of Ajaccio. The present cathedral, dating from the end of the 16th century, owes its construction to the initiative of Gregory XIII, who while still Ugo Buoncompagni, spent some time at Ajaccio as papal legate. The see was left vacant for five years, during which time the diocesan revenues were applied to the building of the cathedral. It was finished by Bishop Giustiniani after his nomination.

Liturgical services are held according to the Greek Byzantine rite in the village of Cargèse, founded in 1676 by the descendants of the Greek aristocrat Stephen Comnenus (Stephanos Comnenos), whom the Ottoman Turks had expelled from the Peloponnesus.

Ordinaries

• Louis Sébastiani (de La Porta) † (13 Apr 1802 Appointed - 9 Dec 1831 Died)
• Toussaint (Raffaele Sante) Casanelli d'Istria † (28 Jun 1833 Appointed - 12 Oct 1869 Died)
• Pierre-Paul de Cuttoli † (21 Dec 1869 Appointed - 18 Dec 1870 Died)
• François-André-Xavier de Gaffory † (27 Feb 1872 Appointed - 14 Jul 1877 Died)
• Paul-Matthieu de La Foata † (21 Aug 1877 Appointed - 3 Jan 1899 Died)
• Louis Olivieri † (7 Dec 1899 Appointed - 17 May 1903 Died)
• Marie-Joseph Ollivier † (21 Feb 1906 Appointed - 21 Mar 1906 Died)
• Jean-Baptiste Desanti † (1 Jun 1906 Appointed - 11 Feb 1916 Died)
• Auguste-Joseph-Marie Simeone † (27 May 1916 Appointed - 30 Jul 1926 Appointed, Bishop of Fréjus)
• Jean-Marcel Rodié † (29 Apr 1927 Appointed - 7 Mar 1938 Appointed, Bishop of Agen)
• Jean-Baptiste-Adrien Llosa † (14 Sep 1938 Appointed - 26 Jul 1966 Retired)
• André Charles Collini † (26 Jul 1966 Succeeded - 22 Dec 1972 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Toulouse (-Narbonne-Saint Bertrand de Comminges-Rieux))
• Jean-Charles Thomas (4 Feb 1974 Appointed - 23 Dec 1986 Appointed, Coadjutor Bishop of Versailles)
• Sauveur Casanova † (13 Aug 1987 Appointed - 5 Jan 1995 Retired)
• André Jean René Lacrampe, Ist. del Prado (5 Jan 1995 Appointed - 13 Aug 2003, Appointed Archbishop of Besançon)
• Jean-Luc Brunin (6 May 2004 Appointed - 24 June 2011, Appointed Bishop of Le Havre)

Source and external links

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Diocese of Ajaccio". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 
• Cathedral of Ajaccio
• http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dajac.html

Coordinates: 41°54′59″N 8°43′47″E / 41.91639°N 8.72972°E / 41.91639; 8.72972