Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg The Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg () is a Latin Roman Catholic diocese in Switzerland, which is (as all sees in the Alpine country) exempt (i.e. immediately subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province). It comprises the Cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel, with the exception of certain parishes of the right bank of the Rhône belonging to the Diocese of Sion (Sitten). It was created by the merger in 1821 of the Diocese of Lausanne and the Diocese of Geneva, both prince-bishoprics until they were
History of Geneva were often tensions between Calvin and the city's civil authorities. Calvin also supported the admission into Geneva of Protestant refugees, which some circles strongly opposed. Though the city proper remained a Protestant stronghold, a large part of the historic diocese returned to Catholicism in the early seventeenth century under St. Francis de Sales. Geneva has played a historical role in the spread of Protestantism. In addition to becoming a Protestant state, Geneva in the 16th century also became a kind of welfare state, as a general state hospital was established in 1535 by the wealthy Protestant Claude Salomon. A centralized