Roman Catholic Diocese of Belley–Ars

Local tradition maintains that Belley was evangelized in the 2nd century by the martyrs Marcellus and Valerian, companions of St. Pothinus. The first bishop of historic certainty is Vincentius, mentioned in 552. Others who occupied the see were St. Hippolytus, Abbot of Condat (8th century); St. Anthelm (1163–78), seventh General of the Carthusian Order; St. Arthaud (1179–90), founder of the Carthusians at Arvières; Camus (1609–29), a noted preacher and romancist; and Monseigneur François M. Richard (1872–75), later Cardinal Archbishop of Paris.

Belley honours, in a special manner, St. Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, who founded the Benedictine Abbey of Nantua about 660; Saint-Vulbas, a patrician of Bourgogne and a war companion of King Dagobert I; Saint Rambert, killed by order of Ebroin in the 7th century, whose name has been given to Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey, a city in the diocese; Saint Trivier, the solitary, who died about 650; Saint Barnard of Vienne (9th century), who founded the great Benedictine Abbey of Ambronay (destroyed during the French Revolution) and died the Archbishop of Vienna; St. Lambert (12th century), founder of the Cistercian Abbey at Chézery; St. Roland, Abbot of Chézery during the 12th century; Saint Stephen of Châtillon, who founded the Carthusian monastery at Portes in 1115, and died Bishop of Die; Saint Stephen of Bourg, who founded the Carthusian monastery at Meyria in 1116; and Saint Jean-Baptiste Vianney (1786–1859), parish priest at Ars.

The Diocese of Belley which, in the Middle Ages, had no less than eight Carthusian monasteries, was the birthplace of the Joséphistes, a religious congregation founded by Jacques Crétenet (1606–67), a layman and surgeon who became a priest after the death of his wife; of the teaching order of the Sisters of St. Charles, founded by Charles Demia of Bourg (1636–89); and of three teaching orders founded in the first half of the 19th century: the Brothers of the Society of the Cross of Jesus; the Brothers of the Holy Family of Belley, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Bourg. In 1858 a Trappist monastery was established in the deprived Dombes district.

Cardinal Louis Aleman (1390–1450) and Sister Rosalie (1787–1856), noted in the history of modern Parisian charities, were both native of the Diocese of Belley. Saint Pierre-Louis-Marie Chanel was born at Cuet near Bourg. For thirty years of its existence (1701–31), "Journal de Trévoux", a valuable repertory of the literary and religious history of the period, was published by the Jesuits at Trévoux (now a suburb of Lyon), in the diocese. The church at Brou, near Bourg, was built under the direction of Margaret of Austria, widow of Philibert II the Fair, Duke of Savoy.

Bishop Roland

• Alexande-Raymond Devie † (13 Jan 1823 Appointed – 25 Jul 1852 Died)
• Georges-Claude-Louis-Pie Chalandon † (25 Jul 1852 Succeeded – 4 Feb 1857 Appointed, Archbishop of Aix
• Pierre-Henri Gérault de Langalerie † (14 Feb 1857 Appointed – 30 Sep 1871 Appointed, Archbishop of Auch)
• François-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne † (16 Oct 1871 Appointed – 7 May 1875 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Paris)
• Jean-Joseph Marchal † (8 Jun 1875 Appointed – 30 Jan 1880 Appointed, Archbishop of Bourges)
• Pierre-Jean-Joseph Soubiranne † (30 Jan 1880 Appointed – Oct 1887 Resigned)
• Louis-Henri-Joseph Luçon † (8 Nov 1887 Appointed – 21 Feb 1906 Appointed, Archbishop of Reims)
• François-Auguste Labeuche † (13 Jul 1906 Appointed – 18 Mar 1910 Died)
• Adolph Manier † (13 Apr 1910 Appointed – 30 Jul 1929 Died)
• Virgile-Joseph Béguin † (15 Nov 1929 Appointed – 24 Dec 1934 Appointed, Archbishop of Auch
• Amédée-Marie-Alexis Maisonobe † (29 May 1935 Appointed – 15 Nov 1954 Died)
• René-Fernand-Eugène Fourrey † (2 Jun 1955 Appointed – 17 May 1975 Retired)
• René-Alexandre Dupanloup † (17 May 1975 Succeeded – 7 Nov 1986 Resigned)
• Guy-Marie Bagnard (8 Jul 1987 Appointed – 15 June 2012 Resigned)
• Pascal Roland (since 15 June 2012)

• Belley
• Bugey
• Catholic Church in France

• (in French) Official website Archived 9 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Diocese of Belley

46°12′17″N 5°13′32″E