The diocese was created in 1788, but the new bishop, Étienne-Jean-Baptiste-Louis des Gallois de la Tour,[1] although appointed by King Louis XVI on 29 May 1789, had not been approved (preconized) by Pope Pius VI before the outbreak of the French Revolution in July 1789.

François-Xavier Laurent, had been a curé in the diocese of Autun before becoming a member of the Estates General; after his election by the voters of Allier, he was consecrated in Paris on 6 March 1791 by Constitutional Bishop Gobel.

The implementation of the Concordat was delayed, however, by various circumstances brought about by the Hundred Days and the occupation of France by the Allies, as well as by the lack of funds both on the part of the French monarchy and the Papacy,[7] to say nothing about the machinations of ministers and diplomats.

[9] The first bishop was appointed in 1822, and in the same year the medieval collegiate church at Moulins was established as the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, the seat of the diocese.

This situation continued until 8 December 2002, when a major reorganization of the French diocesan structure made Moulins a suffragan of the Archbishop of Clermont.