CAHORS, Diocese 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.; it has a population of 162,572 inhabitants, of whom 160,000 are Catholics, with 480 parishes, 152 diocesan priests and 74 regulars; two seminaries; it is divided into the three archpresbyterates of C., Figeac and Gourdon; the patron of the diocese is the protomartyr St. Stephen.
As the "civitas Cadurcorum" it formed part of the Roman province of Aquitania prima. The origins of the diocese of C. go back to the 3rd century. In 1317 John XXII took from it the territory of Montauban, erecting it into 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 province of Albi was reconstituted and C. again became its suffragan.
The Cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen in the 12th century, consists of a single nave with two large bays and domes set on sturdy piers. Sculptures of c. 1130 still remain in them, but part of the choir was rebuilt in 1285. The domes, 32 m. high and 18 m. in diameter, according to Rey, are of local inspiration, the first built in France; indeed they served as a model for the others in the same region (Angoulême, Moissac, Souillac). The high altar was consecrated on 27 July 1119 by Pope Callixtus II, on his return from the Council of Toulouse. In 1324 the interior decoration of the walls was completed, later covered with plaster. In 1872 the portraits of the holy bishops of C., Genulfus and Ursicinus, were brought to light again in the first dome and in the choir. There is preserved the body of the venerable Alan of Solminihac, reformer of the abbey of Chancelade (in Périgord) and of the diocese of C.; the cause for his beatification has been begun. The central façade was adorned with the portal now placed in the north façade; in the tympanum is carved the majestic scene of the Ascension.
Other notable churches are: St. Ursicinus the bishop, erected at the beginning of the 12th century; it is a characteristic example of the period of transition between Romanesque and Gothic, and presents massive quadrilateral piers flanked by a cluster of four columns. Notre-Dame, called du Pont Vieux, because it is situated near the ancient Roman bridge; its central part was rebuilt and enlarged in 1466. St. Bartholomew, formerly St. Stephen, restored or rebuilt by John XXII, who had been baptized there; it has a single nave divided into four bays with a rectangular bell tower. St. Ursula, between the 12th and 13th centuries, with Romanesque capitals.
The palace of John XXII is now used as a museum; it contains, among other things, 12th-century capitals from the abbey of Marcillac (Lot). The episcopal palace built by Bishop Guillaume Le Jay at the end of the 16th century is today the seat of the prefecture.
The diocese was rich in abbeys in the Middle Ages: the most famous is that of Moissac (v.); those of Figeac, Aurillac, Marcillac, Souillac, Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, La Nouvelle de Gordon, etc., are also remembered.
Among the most distinguished sanctuaries is remembered the sanctuary of the Madonna at Rocamadour, one of the most venerated in France since the 10th century.
C. was the birthplace of Jacques Duèse, later Pope John XXII (1316-34); at Puèch, diocese of C., was born the blessed Gabriel Perboyre (v.).