[2] 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).

[9] In addition to confirming previous grants, Henry gave the diocese the places called Muratum, Lustriacum, Carbarissa, Corise, Cubizaca, Leuco and Natres.

[10] These are mentioned in the bull "Cogit nos" of Pope Alexander III of 17 October 1179, in which he takes the diocese of Lausanne under papal protection at the request of the recently elected Bishop Roger.

[13] The "Chartularium of Lausanne"[14] affirms that St. Marius was born in the Burgundian Diocese of Autun about 530, was consecrated Bishop of Avenches in May, 574, and died 31 December, 594.

[20] Boniface of Brussels (1231-1239) was formerly a master in the Sorbonne University of Paris and head of the cathedral school at Cologne; he resigned because of physical ill-treatment, and was later appointed auxiliary bishop at Liège and then at Utrecht.

[21] The Benedictine Louis de la Palud (1432–1440) took part in the Councils of Konstanz (1414), Pavia-Siena (1423) and Basel (1431) and at Basel, in January 1432, was chosen Bishop of Lausanne, against Jean de Prangins, the chapter's choice; Palud was later vice-chamberlain of the conclave, in which Amadeus VIII of Savoy was elected Felix V, by whom he was made a cardinal.

[24] He also published synodical constitutions for the reform of the clergy; Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1472–76) in 1503 ascended the papal throne as Julius II.

Meanwhile, the bishops of Lausanne, who had been Counts of Vaud since the time of Rudolph III of Burgundy (1011), and until 1218 subject only to imperial authority, were in 1270 granted the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire,[disputed – discuss] but their temporal power only extended over a small part of the diocese, namely over the city and district of Lausanne, as well as a few towns and villages in the Cantons of Vaud and Fribourg; on the other hand, the bishops possessed many vassals among the most distinguished of the patrician families of what is now western Switzerland.

These guardians, whose only duty originally was the protection of the diocese, enlarged their jurisdiction at the expense of the diocesan rights and even filled the episcopal see with members of their families.

[35] Quarrels continued, during which the city of Lausanne, with the aid of Bern and Fribourg, acquired new rights, and gradually freed itself from episcopal suzerainty.

[36] When Bishop Sebastian de Montfaucon (1517–1560) took sides with the Duke of Savoy in a battle against Bern, the Bernese used this as a pretext to seize the city of Lausanne.

[40] The Second Lateran Council (1139) recognized the right of chapters to participate in the election of bishops, but forbade them to exclude from the process "religious persons" (laity).

They were eager to increase its status and stability, and had petitioned the cardinal legate, Reymond Perrault (1502–1504), to carry their case to the papal court.

In 1512 Pope Julius II finally agreed to their petition, and established a collegiate chapter in the church of St. Nicholas at Fribourg, which was made immediately subject to the Holy See, with a provost, a dean, a cantor, and twelve canons.

[47] On 31 March 1536, Hans Franz Nägeli, the leader of Bern, who was making war with the duke of Savoy over the Vaud, occupied Lausanne, banned the practice of the Catholic religion, and began a religious revolution.

[48] Shortly after the relocation of the bishops of Lausanne to Fribourg, efforts began to institute a seminary for priests, in accordance with the directives of the Council of Trent.

Finally, Bishop Pierre de Montenach established a proper seminary at the village of Surpierre, in the valley of the Broye, which lasted from 1692 to 1709.

In the neighborhood of Geneva, the parishes of the French Jura fell to the Diocese of Belley, which surrounded the city, and the department of Doubs was created with its center at Besançon.

[61] Mermillod has been characterized as "a dynamic personality, an effective preacher, socially adept and openly desirous of expanding the faith by conversions and missionary work.

His ultramontane position became a campaign issue in the canton of Geneva, and helped to return the anti-clerical and leftist Radical Party to power.

They began to pass restrictive legislation against religious orders, refusing to deal with Mermillod, claiming correctly that the proper authority was the bishop of Lausanne.

With the death of Pius IX in 1878, however, the papal government decided that the church would conform to the ecclesiastical laws of the Canton of Bern, and renounced permanently the plan to restore the diocese of Geneva.

[70] Around 1900, according to Büchi[71] and the Dictionnaire géographique de la Suisse,[72] the diocese numbered approximately 434,049 Protestants and 232,056 Catholics; consequently, the latter formed nearly 35% of the whole population of the bishopric.

[citation needed] On July 15, 2020, a Vatican investigation revealed that the number of reported cases of abuse involving Catholic priests and monks serving in the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg have been increasing over the past few years[vague], and that the payment of financial compensation which people in the Diocese distributed for victims of abuse totaled CHF675,000 ($718,000) in 2018 - up from CHF425,000 in the previous year - according to figures released by the Vatican News Service.