LAVAL, Diocese of. - Diocese and capital city of the department of Mayenne in France.
It has an area of 5,170 sq. km. with a population of 254,479 inhabitants, of whom 253,500 are Catholics. The diocese is divided into 6 archpresbyteries and 27 deaneries with 297 parishes served by 538 diocesan priests and 76 regulars, a major and a minor seminary; 4 male religious communities and 138 female ones (Ann. Pont., 1951, pp. 241-42).
The city of L., situated on the two banks of the Mayenne, is of feudal origin (Vallum Guidonis). From the 13th century until the French Revolution it passed into the lordship of various noble families. It was occupied by the English in 1428, but was abandoned the following year. The diocese was created by Pius IX with a bull dated 30 June 1855, by dismemberment of the diocese of Le Mans; the church of the Trinity was elevated to a cathedral. The first bishop elected of
L. was Msgr. E. Bougaud (v.), who died after only eight months. It is a suffragan of Tours. The church of the Trinity preserves the central tower and the southern portal of the end of the 12th century; while the choir and the northern portal are of the Renaissance. There is preserved in it the funeral monument of the bishop of Rennes G. Ouvrain (1347). Notable 16th-century stained-glass windows are contained in the church of St. Venerandus (1495-1563); the church of Notre-Dame-des-Cordeliers was erected between the 14th and 16th centuries.
In the diocese sanctuaries are well known such as those of Notre-Dame-de-Prix in L. and Notre-Dame-de-l'Epine at Evron, Notre-Dame-des-Freux at Bellebranche, Notre-Dame-d'Avénères and Notre-Dame-de-Courlefosse at Fougerolles and other places of pilgrimage for centuries.
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Enrico Josi