CAHORS, DIOCESI of. — In France, capital of the department of Lot, on the peninsula formed by the River Lot. It is a suffragan of Albi. Area: 5,213 sq. km.; population 162,572, of whom 160,000 are Catholics; it has 480 parishes, 152 diocesan priests, and 74 religious priests; two seminaries; it is divided into the three archpriestships of C., Figeac, and Gourdon; the patron of the diocese is the protomartyr s. Stefano.
As the civitas Cadurcorum, it formed part, in the Roman period, of the province of Aquitania Prima. The origins of the diocese of C. date back to the 3rd century. In 1317 Giovanni XXII removed from it the territory of Montauban, erecting it as a diocese. C. was a suffragan of Bourges until 1678, when it passed to Albi; it became a departmental diocese in 1790, placed under Toulouse, but in 1822 the ecclesiastical province of Albi was reconstituted and C. once again became its suffragan.
The Cathedral, dedicated to s. Stefano in the 12th century, consists of a single nave with two large bays and domes resting on massive pillars. Sculptures dating from around 1130 still remain in it, but part of the choir was rebuilt in 1285. According to Rey, the domes, 32 m high and 18 m in diameter, are of local inspiration and were the first constructed in France; indeed, they served as models for others in the same region (Angoulême, Moissac, Souillac). The high altar was consecrated on 27 July 1119 by Pope Callistus II, on his return from the Council of Toulouse. In 1324 the interior decoration of the walls was completed; they were subsequently covered with plaster. In 1872, the portraits of the holy bishops of C., Genulfo and Urcisio, were brought to light in the first dome and in the choir. The body of the ven. Alano di Solminihac, reformer of the abbey of Chancelade (in Périgord) and of the diocese of C., is preserved there; the cause for his beatification has been initiated. The central façade was adorned with the portal now situated on the north façade; the majestic scene of the Ascension is sculpted in the tympanum.
Other notable churches are: S. Urcisio vescovo, built at the beginning of the 12th century; it is a characteristic example of the transitional period between Romanesque and Gothic, with massive quadrilateral pillars flanked by a cluster of four columns. Notre-Dame, called du Pont Vieux, because it is situated near the ancient Roman bridge; the central section was rebuilt and enlarged in 1466. S. Bartolomeo, formerly S. Stefano, restored or rebuilt by Giovanni XXII, who had been baptized there; it has a single nave divided into four bays, with a rectangular bell tower. S. Orsola, dating from the 12th–13th centuries, with Romanesque capitals.
The palace of Giovanni XXII is now used as a museum; among other things, it contains 12th-century capitals
from the abbey of Marcillac (Lot). The episcopal palace, built by Bishop Guglielmo Le Jay at the end of the 16th century, is now the seat of the prefecture.
The diocese was rich in abbeys during the Middle Ages: the Moissac (v.); those of Figeac, Aurillac, Marcillac, Souillac, Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, La Nouvelle de Gordon, etc., are also recalled.
Among the most distinguished sanctuaries is the shrine of Our Lady at Rocamadour, one of the most venerated in France since the 10th century.
C. was the birthplace of Giacomo Duèse, later Pope Giovanni XXII (1316–34); the b. Perboyre (v.) was born at Puèch, in the diocese of C.