Rufus

Saint Rufus is said to have been the first bishop of Avignon. A local tradition makes him the son of Simon of Cyrene, who helped Christ carry the cross, and a disciple of Saint Paul, which would date him to the time of the Apostles. Modern historians think rather that Rufus was a simple priest, perhaps the founder or one of the first leaders of the Christian community of Avignon in the fourth century. The oldest testimony about him is the martyrology of Avignon of the middle of the eleventh century, derived from that of Ado of the ninth century, which commemorates him on 14 November as "holy Rufus the confessor", with no mention of an episcopate at Avignon. Sources from the beginning of the tenth century attest near the city an abbey dedicated to Saint Rufus, probably built near or over his tomb.

During the wars of religion the saint's body was moved into the city of Avignon to protect it. The Canons Regular of Saint Rufus began from a small community of clerics settled there. He is venerated in the Catholic Church.