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, respectively to the south, east and west. Its extensive territory coincides with the department of Pas-de-Calais, which has an area of 6,762 sq. km. and comprises 900 communes. Catholics number 1,030,000 out of 1,168,545 inhabitants; parishes 825; diocesan priests 1,142 and regular clergy 84.
A., the ancient Nemetocum, capital of one of the twelve regions of Gallia Belgica, the Nemetocena of Julius Caesar, later called Atrebatum from the name of the people that 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 there as pastor the catechist of Clovis, St. Vedast. His successor Vedulf, during the second half of the 6th century, transferred the episcopal residence to Cambrai, where it remained until 1093, when Urban II brought it back again to A., giving it as bishop Lambert of Guines, whom he himself consecrated. The diocese remained a suffragan of Reims until 1559, when Paul IV subordinated it to the archdiocese of Cambrai, which he elevated to a metropolis. Its extent was still very limited; but the Napoleonic concordat of 1801, assigning it the boundaries of the department of Pas-de-Calais, which it still preserves, greatly increased its territory with the suppressed dioceses of Boulogne and St-Omer, whose title the bishop of A. has borne ever since.
In the course of its history, A. has undergone the most diverse political vicissitudes, passing from the Vandals and the Huns to the Normans, then to the counts of Flanders, then to the kings of England, afterwards to France in 1482, and definitively in 1659, after having been under Spanish domination in the 16th century. It was devastated several times and knew how to resist the Protestant infiltration from the north. Among the bishops of A. mention should be made of Cardinal de 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 recently Pierre-Louis Parisis (1851-66). Among the monastic foundations of the diocese, the Benedictine abbey of St. Vedast is famous, founded in 658 by St. Aubert and suppressed by the French Revolution. The abbey church served as cathedral from 1802 until 1915, when it was destroyed by bombardments.
Bibliography7 works
Antonio Soirat
COUNCIL OF ARRAS
The assembly of 1025, presided over by Gerard, bishop of A. and Cambrai, had to judge certain heretics who were followers of the sect of a certain Gonulf. According to these, Baptism is not necessary for salvation, just as the Eucharist and Penance are not; 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 the errors and presented a profession of faith which the sectaries subscribed.
In 1097 Lambert, bishop of A., confirmed the privileges granted by his predecessors to the abbot and monks of Mont-St-Eloi and freed the monastery of Arrouaise from every other jurisdiction except his own.
Bibliography3 works
Romualdo Souarn