Archdiocese of Auch

The Archdiocese of Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez (Latin: Archidioecesis Auxitana-Condomiensis-Lectoriensis-Lomberiensis; French: Archidiocèse d'Auch-Condom-Lectoure-Lombez), more commonly known as the Archdiocese of Auch, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese now comprises the department of Gers in south-west France. The archdiocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toulouse, and the current bishop is Bertrand Lacombe, appointed in 2020. He is the 119th bishop of Auch.

In 2022, in the Archdiocese of Auch there was one priest for every 3,478 Catholics.

Originally erected in the 5th century as the diocese of Auch, the first bishop of Auch known to history is the poet Orientius (first half of the fifth century), in honor of whom a famous abbey was founded in the seventh century. A local legend of the 13th century attributes to King Clovis (c. 466–511) the promotion of Auch to the status of an archbishopric, and also its status as primate of "Gascony".

Up to 1789 the archbishops of Auch bore the title of Aquitaine, though for centuries there had been no Aquitaine. The archbishop enjoyed the primacy of Novempopulania and both Navarres, though Navarre became part of France when Henri IV acceded to the throne (1589).

A local tradition that dates back to the beginning of the twelfth century tells us that Taurinus, fifth bishop of Eauze (Elusa), abandoned his episcopal city, which was destroyed by the Vandals, and transferred his see to Auch. Eauze, in fact, probably remained a metropolitan see till about the middle of the ninth century, at which time, owing to the invasions of the Vikings, it was reunited, to the Diocese of Auch, which had existed since the fifth century at and then became an archdiocese. The first bishop of Auch to be accorded the title archbishop in the surviving evidence is Archbishop Airardus in 879. He was the recipient, along with his three suffragan bishops Involatus of Comminges, Wainard of Couserans, and Garston of Tarbes (Bigorre), of a letter of Pope John VIII, in which the Pope complained that their parishioners were a people heavy with iniquity; that they were marrying without regard to church rules or public decency (including incest); that people were appropriating church goods for their own private use; and that priest, clerics, and laity were failing to obey their bishops.

As a metropolitan see by the 9th century, it had ten suffragan sees: Acqs (Dax) and Aire; Lectoure; Couserans; Oloron, Lescar, and Bayonne; Bazas; Comminges; and Tarbes.

On 1 April 1198, less than three months after his election, Pope Innocent III sent a series of mandates to the archbishop of Auch. In one, the Pope complained that unworthy persons were being intruded, sometimes by secular persons, into parishes in the dioceses of the ecclesiastical Province of Auch, for which tasks they were unfit and had been rejected by their bishops; the archbishop was authorized to warn the bishops, to take an appeal, and, if they do not obey, to issue canonical censures and remove the offending clergy from their churches. Another mandate complained that reports had reached the Pope that, in the Province of Auch, monks, canons and other religious had left their cloisters and were visiting the courts of local magnates in neglect of their vows and monastic discipline, and their superiors; the archbishop was ordered to give them a warning and then, if they disobeyed, to suspend them from their offices and benefices. In a third mandate, the Pope advised the archbishop that in his Province there were clergy who were accumulating dignities and other benefices, including archdeaconries and cathedral dignities; the archbishop was granted special powers to advise the persons affected of their transgression, and invite them to choose one of the benefices and surrender the rest, and, if they do not cooperate, to apply ecclesiastical censures. Finally, in yet another letter, Innocent III reminds the archbishop of Auch that he was well advised by him and by his fellow bishops that Gascony was overrun by heretics, and he encourages and authorizes the archbishop to pursue them until they are cleared from his Province, by whatever effective measures he can muster, and suspending the right of appeal; and if necessary he may use the civil authorities (principes) and the people, and to coerce the heretics by the use of the material sword (si necesse fuerit, per principes et populum eosdem facias virtute materialis gladii coerceri).

Evidently unsatisfied with Archbishop Bernard's performance as archbishop, Pope Innocent sent him a letter on 15 April 1212, remarking that when a bishop feels himself to be unequal to the task of governing his diocese, he should ask himself whether he ought to put down his burden. He then pointed out that the diocese of Auch had fallen on bad times during Bernard's administration, or rather maladministration, and that it might be appropriate for him to consider a spontaneous resignation. In May 1213, the Pope commissioned the archbishop of Bordeaux, the bishop of Agen, and the abbot of Clariacensis (Agen), to investigate the many complaints about Archbishop Bernard which had come to the Pope's notice, and which had led to serious lapses in the temporal and spiritual administration of his diocese; there were also serious questions of his personal conduct. He was even said to be a harborer and favorer of heretics. The procurator which he had sent to the papal court had not settled the Pope's concerns, and the archbishop was suspended. The commission was authorized to determine the truth of the charges, and if appropriate to depose the archbishop and select some other suitable person to succeed him.