Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille

Archdiocese of Lille Archidioecesis Insulensis Archidiocèse de Lille
Lille Cathedral
Location
Country	France
Ecclesiastical province	Lille
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 1,647,000 1,090,000 (66.2%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	25 October 1913
Cathedral	Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame in Lille
Patron saint	Notre-Dame de la Treille
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Laurent Ulrich
Suffragans	Archdiocese of Cambrai Diocese of Arras
Auxiliary Bishops	Gérard Coliche
Emeritus Bishops	Gérard Defois Bishop Emeritus (1998-2008)
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille (Latin: Archidioecesis Insulensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France.

Its cathedral episcopal see is a Marian Minor Basilica: Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame de la Treille Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame de la Treille, in Lille, Nord, Nord–Pas-de-Calais. The current Archbishop of Lille is Laurent Bernard Marie Ulrich, appointed in February 2008; he is one of the two vice presidents of the Episcopal Conference of France.

History

Erected on 25 October 1913 originally as the Diocese of Lille, a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cambrai, on territory split off from the then Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai, it encompasses the arrondissements of Dunkerque and Lille, within the department of Nord in the Region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

It was elevated to a Metropolitan Archdiocese by Pope Benedict XVI on March 29, 2008.

Province

Its ecclesiastical province comprises the Metropolitan's own Archdiocese and two suffragan sees :

• its formerly Metropolitan mother the |Archdiocese of Cambrai
• the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras.

Episcopal Ordinaries

(all Roman Rite)

Suffragan Bishops of Lille

• Alexis-Armand Charost (21 November 1913 - 18 June 1920), previously Titular Bishop of Miletopolis (1913.02.14 – 1913.11.21) & Auxiliary Bishop of mother archdiocese Cambrai (France) (1913.02.14 – 1913.11.21); later Titular Archbishop of Chersona (1920.06.15 – 1921.09.22) & Coadjutor Archbishop of Rennes (1920.06.15 – 1921.09.22), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Rennes (Britanny, France) (1921.09.22 – 1930.11.07), created Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria della Vittoria (1922.12.14 – 1930.11.07)
• Hector-Raphaël Quilliet (18 June 1920 - retired 23 March 1928), previously Bishop of Limoges (France) (1913; emeritate as Titular Bishop of Sergiopolis (1928.03.23 – 1928.11.26)
• Achille Liénart (6 October 1928 - 7 March 1968), ceated Cardinal-Priest of S. Sisto (1930.07.03 – death 1973.02.15), Bishop-Prelate of Mission de France (Pontigny, France) (1954.11.12 – retired 1964.11.30)
• Adrien-Edmond-Maurice Gand (7 March 1968 - retired 13 August 1983), succeeded as former Coadjutor Bishop of Lille (1964.05.19 – 1968.03.07) & Titular Bishop of Macriana Minor (1964.05.19 – 1968.03.07)
• Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet (13 August 1983 - retired 2 July 1998), previously Bishop of Saint-Dié (France) (1964.09.24 – 1983.08.13); also President of Bishops’ Conference of France (1981 – 1987)
• Gérard Denis Auguste Defois (2 July 1998 - retired 1 February 2008), previously Coadjutor Archbishop of Sens (1990.07.26 – 1990.12.21), succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Sens (France) (1990.12.21 – 1995.09.04), Metropolitan Archbishop of Reims (France) (1995.09.04 – 1998.07.02)
• Laurent Bernard Marie Ulrich (1 February 2008 - 2008.03.29); formerly Metropolitan Archbishop of Chambéry–Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne–Tarentaise (France) (2000.06.06 – 2002.12.08), demoted Archbishop of Chambéry–Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne–Tarentaise (2002.12.08 – 2008.02.01), Vice-President of Bishops’ Conference of France (2007.11.05 – 2013.06.30 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Lille

• Laurent Bernard Marie Ulrich (see above 29 March 2008 - ...)

Source and External links

• Official Website
• Entry of the Archdiocese of Lille on Catholic Hierarchy
• GCatholic.org with incumbent biography links