Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/67

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A letter of St. Euchcrius to Solviua makes it almost oeTtiunthatSt.Isaac(c,400}wa8thefirBt bishop. In 440 St. SaJonius appears as Bishopof Geneva; he wasa

son of St. Euchenus, to whom the latter dedicated his " Instructiones "; he took part in the Coiincilsof Orange (441), Vaigon (442), and Arlea (about 455), and is aup-

lished in P. L., LII, 967 sqq., 993 sqq. as works of i. otherwise unknown bishop, Saloniua of Vienne). Lit^ tie is known about the followioE bishops: Theoplastus (about 475), to whom St. Sidonius Apollinaris ail- dresseda letter; Domitianus (l^fore 500), under whora

of Soleure tranaferpcd to Geneva, where she built a basilica in hia honour; St. Maximua (about 512-41), a friend of Avitus, Archbishop of \'ieniie, and ("yprinn of Toulon, with whom he ivas in correspondence (Wawra in "Tilbinger Theolcg. QuartaJBchrift", iJiXXV. 1905, 576-94). Bishop Pappulus eent the priest Thori- biusoshissubstitute to the Svnod of Or- leans (541). Bishop &ilonius II is only known from the eig- naturea of the ^noda of Lyons (570) and Paris (573), and Bishop Cariatto, in- B tailed by King (jun-

§ resent at the two ynods of Valenoe and BUcon in 685.

From the begin- ning the See of Ge- neva was a suffragan of Vienna. The bishops of Geneva had been princes of the Holy Roman Empire since 1154, but had to maintain a long strugE'e for their independence against tJie guardians (navoeart) of the see, the counts of Geneva and, later, the counts of Savoy, In 1290 the latter obtained the right of installing the viee- domimu of the diocese — the official who exercised minor jurisdiction in the town in the bishop's name. In 1387 Bishop Adh^mar Fabry granted the to^vn its great charter, the basis of its communal splf-govem- ment, which every bishop on his accession was ex- pected to confirm. When the line of the counts of Geneva became extinct, in 1394, and the House of Savoy came into possession of (heir territory, assurn- ing, after 1416, the title of Duke, the new djiiasty BOURht by every means to bring the cilv of Geneva under their power, particularly by elevating members of their own family to the episcopal see. The city protected itself by union with the Swiss Federation {Eidgeno»sen»chaft), uniting itself, in 1526, with Berne and FribouTg. The Reformation plunged Geneva into new entanglements: while Berne favoured the intro- duction of the new teaching, and demanded liberty of preaching for the Eeformere Farel and Froment, Catholic Fribourg, in IKH, renounced its alliance with Geneva. Calvin went to Geneva in 1536 and began

Ssteniaticaiiy to preach his doctrine there. By his eocratic "Reign of Terror" he succeeded in forcing himself upon Geneva as absolute ruler, and converted the citv mto a Protestant Home. As early as 1533 ths bishop had been obliged to leave his residence, never to return; in 1534 he fixed his see at Gex, in 1S35 »t Annecy The Apostolic leal and devotion of St. Fran- oil de Sales, who was bishop of Geneva from 1602 to lUItiestond toGatholici«ma lai^e part of th* diooaae.

Nyon, also, often erroneously considered a sepamtA diocese, belonged to Geneva Under Charlemagne Tarantaise was detached from Geneva, and became a separate diocese. Before the Reformation the 8ee of Geneva ruled over 8 chapters, 423 parishes, 9 abbeys, and 68 priories. In 1802 the diocese waa united with that of Chambiry. At the Congress of Vienna the territory of Geneva was extended to cover 16 BAToy- ard and 6 French parishes, with more than 16,000 Catholics; at the same time it was admitted to the Swiss Federation. The Congress expressly provided — and the same proviso was included in the Treaty of Turin (16 March, 1816)— that in these territories transferred to Geneva the (Catholic religion was to be protected, and that no changes were to be made in ex- isting conditions without agreement with the Holy "-- "* - VII next (1819) united the city of Geneva .th the Diooeee of Lausanne, white the rest of the an- cient Diocese of Ge- (outside of Switzerland) was re- coniKtituted, in 1822, as the Diocese of Annecy. The Great Council of Ckmeva (cantonal council) afterwards ignored the responsibilities tiius undertaken; in imitation of Napo- leon's "OrKonic Ar- ticles' Xsee Ann cues. The OnOANic), it in- sisted upon the "Placet", or pre- vious approval of publication, for all

Eapal documents. atholic indigna- tion ran high at the civil measures taken against Marilley, the parish priest of (jeneva, and later bishop of the see. Still greater indignation was aroused among the Cath- olics by the injustice created by the KidtwkampJ, which obliged them to contribute to the budget of the Protestant Church and to that of the Old Catholic Church, while for their own religious needs they did not receive the smallest pecuniary aid from the public treasury. On 30 June, 1907, most of the Catholics of Geneva voted for the separation of Church and State. By this act of separation they were assured at least a negative equality with Protestants and Old Catholics. Since then the Canton of Geneva has given aid to no creed out of either the state or the mimieipal revenues. The Protestants, however, have been favoured, for to them a lump compensation of 800,000 francs (about 1160,000) was paid at the outset, whereas the Catho- lics — in spite 01 the international agreements assuring financial support to their religion, either from the public funds or from other sources — received nothing. III. Lausannr and Geneva, — Bishop Yenni's (d. 8 December, 1845) succcssorwasEtienneMarill^, De- posed, in 1848, by the Cantons of Berne, Geneva, Vaud, and Nouchfltel, owing to serious differences with the Radical regime at Fribourg, he was kept a prisoner tor fifty days in the castle of ChiJJon, on the Lake of Geneva, anil then spent eight years in exile at Divonne (France); he was allowed to return to his diocese 10 Deceml>er, 1856. In 1864 Pius IX appointed tte vicar-general of Geneva, Gaspard Mermillod, auxiliary bishop, and in 1873 Vicar Apostolic, of Geneva, thus detaching the Genevese territory from the diocese and making it a vicariate. This new Apostolic vicariate was, howevw, not reoogniwd bf dther tha St«l«Couiir