ARRAS, DIOCESE OF. – This bishopric of northern France, a suffragan of Cambrai, is bounded by the English Channel to the north and by the dioceses of Cambrai, Lille, and Amiens to the south, east, and west respectively. Its extensive territory coincides with the department of the Pas-de-Calais, which has an area of 6,762 sq. km. and comprises 900 communes. The Catholics number 1,030,000 out of a total population of 1,168,545; there are 825 parishes, 1,142 diocesan priests, and 84 regular clergy.
A., the ancient Nemetacum, capital of one of the twelve regions of Gallia Belgica, the *Nemetocena* of Julius Caesar, later called *Atrebatum* from the name of the people who inhabited it, does not appear to have known the Gospel during the Roman domination. It was St. Remigius, Bishop of Reims, who in 496 sent as its pastor the catechist of Clovis, St. Vedastus. His successor, Vedulphus, in the second half of the 6th century, transferred the episcopal see to Cambrai, where it remained until 1093, when Urban II restored it to A., appointing as bishop Lambert of Guînes, whom he himself consecrated. The diocese remained a suffragan of Reims until 1559, when Paul IV subjected it to the archdiocese of Cambrai, which he elevated to metropolitan status. Its extent was still very limited; but the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801, assigning it the boundaries of the department of the Pas-de-Calais, which it still retains, greatly enlarged its territory by incorporating the suppressed dioceses of Boulogne and St-Omer, whose bishops have since borne the title of Bishop of A.
Throughout its history, A. has undergone the most varied political vicissitudes, passing from the Vandals and Huns to the Normans, then to the Counts of Flanders, then to the Kings of England, subsequently to France in 1482, and definitively in 1659, after having been under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It was repeatedly devastated and resisted the Protestant infiltration from the north. Among the bishops of A. may be mentioned Cardinal Granvelle (1538–61), a statesman rather than a bishop, governor of the Netherlands and minister of Philip II; Guy de Rochechouart, who founded the seminary in 1677 and occupied the see for 54 years; and more recently Pierre-Louis Parisis (1851–66). Among the monastic foundations of the diocese, the famous Benedictine abbey of St. Vedast, founded in 1058 by St. A. Aulbert and suppressed by the French Revolution, is noteworthy. The abbey church served as the cathedral from 1802 until 1915, when it was destroyed by bombardment.
COUNCIL OF ARRAS. – The assembly of 1025, presided over by Gerard, Bishop of Arras and Cambrai, was called to judge certain heretics who were followers of a certain Gonulfus. According to these heretics, Baptism is not necessary for salvation, nor are the Eucharist and Penance; they condemned marriage and gave the name of saints only to priests and martyrs. After imposing fasting and prayer on the clergy and monks for the conversion of these heretics, the bishop refuted their errors and presented a profession of faith which the sectaries subscribed to.
In 1097, Lambert, Bishop of Arras, confirmed the privileges previously granted by his predecessors to the abbot and monks of Mont-St-Éloi and freed the monastery of Arrouaise from all jurisdiction other than his own.
ARRAS – SACRED VESSELS
remained; then, after crossing the Lebon at Cambrai, they too were brought there and appeared before the tribunal of the people on 26 June. The president offered them their lives and freedom if they would take the oath. They refused, and were therefore condemned to death. Three days later they mounted the guillotine, their heads crowned with rosaries. They were beatified by Benedict XV on 13 June 1920.