With the objective of simplifying its organizational structure, the French Church has redrawn the boundaries of its own ecclesiastical provinces, which are now reduced from 17 to 15. The new ecclesiastical provinces, which each regroup from 3 to 9 dioceses, replace the 9 “French “apostolic regions” created in 1961. The new reorganization was established by a decree of the Holy See’s Congregation for Bishops on 8 December. The boundaries of the new provinces, explain the French bishops in a press release, “have been defined to take more effective account of administrative, economic and cultural situations and to adapt them to the needs of the Church’s mission”. The episcopate hopes that the new ecclesiastical provinces may permit the bishops to “be closer to the life of men and women today; favour work in common and the exchange between dioceses; and permit the more effective exercise of collegiality between the bishops”. All 15 provinces have a metropolitan archbishop who has a role of vigilance and control. The Catholic Church in France comprises 93 territorial dioceses in all.
