Diocese of Caltagirone

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Diocese of Caltagirone

Dioecesis Calatayeronensis
Duomo-Caltagirone (2).JPG
Exterior of the Cathedral of Caltagirone
Location
CountryItaly
Ecclesiastical province Catania
Statistics
Area1,551 km2 (599 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 2023)
  • 138,780 Decrease2.svg
  • 132,320 Decrease2.svg (95%)
Parishes57
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established12 September 1816
(209 years ago)
CathedralBasilica Cattedrale di S. Giuliano
Secular priests 79 (diocesan) Increase2.svg
13 (religious Orders) Increase2.svg
12 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Calogero Peri, OFMCap
Map
Diocesi di Caltagirone.png
Website
Diocesan web site (in Italian)

The Diocese of Caltagirone (Latin : Dioecesis Calatayeronensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church situated in the eastern interior of Sicily. Before 1816, its territory was part of the diocese of Siracusa. [1] From 1816 to 1844, it was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Monreale. It became subject to the new archdiocese of Siracusa in 1844. In the diocesan reorganization of Sicily in 2000, became a suffragan of the archdiocese of Catania.

Contents

The seat of the bishop is in the city of Caltagirone, in the Basilica Cathedral of S. Giuliano.

History

The town of Caltagirone was severely damaged by the great earthquake of 1693. Out of a population of 12,339, some 800 persons were killed. Half of the buildings were reparable, the other half were not. The principal church of S. Giuliano was in ruins, as was S. Giacomo (patron of the city), the church of the Conventual Franciscans, and the church of S. Bonaventura. The Jesuit college lost its façade, and the residence and bell tower were uninhabitable. The Carmelites, Dominicans, the Fate Bene Brothers, and the Crociferi lost their churches and residences. [2]

Early considerations

Pope Pius VII had been approched on two occasions by King Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily about dividing the extensive diocese of Siracusa, once in 1802 following the death of Bishop Alagona, and again in 1807 following the death of Bishop Bonanno. [3] But the Papal States were under French occupation, and in 1804 the pope was compelled to go to Paris for the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon. In 1809, the Papal States were annexed by the French Empire, and the pope was taken prisoner to France and then to Savona. In June 1814, following the fall of Napoleon, he returned to Rome.

From 1806 to 1815, King Ferdinand was in exile from the kingdom of Naples, which was occupied by Joseph Bonaparte and then Joachim Murat, calling themselves kings of Naples. Having recovered his mainland possessions, Ferdinand proclaimed the union of Naples and Sicily in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on 12 December 1816.

Erection

The main city, where the cathedral of St. Giuliano is located, is Caltagirone. S. Giuliano had been a parish church and, since 1631, a collegiate church, with a Chapter, led by four dignities: the Provost, the Dean, the Cantor, and the Treasurer; and sixteen canons. [4]

The diocese of Caltagirone was created on 12 September 1816 with the papal bull Romanus Pontifex of Pope Pius VII, [5] and with the permission (exequatur) of the King of Naples which was registered on 20 February 1818. [6] It was made a suffragan of the archdiocese of Monreale. [7]

The diocese consists of fifteen towns in the province of Catania: Caltagirone, Castel di Judica, Grammichele, Mazzarrone, San Michele di Ganzaria, Raddusa, Ramacca, Mirabella Imbaccari, Scordia, Militello in Val di Catania, Palagonia, Mineo, Licodia Eubea, San Cono and Vizzini. [8] The territory is subdivided into 57 parish churches.

Pius VII granted to the kings of the Two Sicilies the privilege, whenever a vacancy in the episcopal office occurred, of nominating a suitable person to be bishop, subject to the approval of the pope. [9]

Gaetano Trigona e Parisi was nominated the first bishop of Caltagirone by King Ferdinand on 18 June 1818, and confirmed by Pope Pius VII on 21 December 1818. [10]

Minor basilicas

The Collegiate Church of S. Giacomo (Sancti Jacobi) in Caltagirone was granted the honor and title of "minor basilica" by Pope Pius VII on 12 September 1816, in the bull "Romanus Pontifex". Its Chapter consisted of four dignities and eight canons. [11]

The church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, called "Cœnadomini" in Caltagirone was granted the honor and title of "minor basilica" by Pope Paul VI on 27 June 1963, in the Apostolic Brief entitled "Praesidium Decusque'. The earlier church had been ruined in the great earthquake of 1693, [12]

The church of San Nicolò–Santissimo Salvatore in Milteto (diocese of Caltagirone) was granted the honor and title of "minor basilica" by Pope Francis in 2021. [13]

Suffragan

Originally Caltagirone was a suffragan of the diocese of Monreale, but from 20 May 1844 it was transferred by Pope Gregory XVI to the ecclesiastical province of Siracusa. From 2 December 2000, with the Pope John Paul II's papal bull, Ad maiori consulendum, the diocese became a suffragan of archdiocese of Catania. On 20 March 2010, the 15th bishop of Caltagirone, Calogero Peri, OFMCap, was the first bishop to be consecrated in the cathedral Saint Julian in Caltagirone.

Bishops

See also

Notes and references

  1. Cappelletti, p. 628.
  2. Mario Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia (Torino: Fratelli Bocca 1901), p. 166.
  3. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 138`2, col. 2.
  4. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1383, col. 2. Cappelletti, p. 628.
  5. Bullarii Romani continuatio, (in Latin), Vol. 7 (Prato: Aldina 1852), pp. 1382-1395
  6. Andrea Gallo, ed. (1846). Codice ecclesiastico sicolo contenente le costituzioni, i capitoli del Regno, le sanzioni, le prammatiche, i reali dispacci, le leggi, i decreti, i reali rescritti ed altri documenti relativi alle materie del diritto ecclesiastico sicolo, dalla fondazione della monarchia siciliana sino a' nostri giorni opera dell'avv. Andrea Gallo: 2 (in Italian and Latin). Vol. II. Palermo: Stamperia Carini. pp. 72–73.
  7. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1385, col. 1 "...in cathedralem ecclesiam Calatajerononsem eiam nuncupandam archiepiscopo Montis Regalis pro tempore existenti suffraganeam, eique metroolitico jure subjectam...."
  8. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1384, col. 1.
  9. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1390, col. 2 § 18..
  10. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 126.
  11. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1391, col. 2 § 20.
  12. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 55 (Città del Vaticano 1963), pp. 911-913: "Tamen, anno MDCLXXXXIÍI ingenti concussione et fremitu terrae id quod civium pietas studiose aedificaverat et artificum ingenium scite decorarat, misere corruit. Qua calamitate haud vieti Calatayeronenses novum templum, Francisco architecto, curaverunt exstruendum...."
  13. Lucio Gambera, La Gazetta del Calatino, "Militello, la Chiesa Madre eretta alla dignità di Basilica San Nicolò–Santissimo Salvatore," 30 December 2021; retrieved: 10 October 2025.
  14. Born in Piazza Armerina, Trigona e Parisi was nominated bishop of Caltagirone on 18 June 1818, and approved by Pope Pius VII on 21 December 1818. He was named archbishop of Palermo on 15 April 1833, and became a cardinal on 23 June 1834. He died on 5 July 1837. Saverio Grasso, in Vincenzo D'Avino (1848). Cenni storici sulle chiese arcivescovili, vescovili, e prelatizie (nulluis) del Regno delle Due Sicilie (in Italian). Napoli: Ranucci. p.  131.. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, pp. 126, 298.
  15. A native of Palermo, Denti was a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Montecassino. He was appointed bishop of Caltagirone on 15 April 1833. He died on 3 August 1853. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 126.
  16. Zigarelli, Giuseppe (1856). Storia della Cattedra di Avellino e de'suoi pastori, con brevi notizie de'Metropolitani della chiesa di Benevento, seguito dalla serie cronologica de'vescovi di Frigento, e da una esatta descrizione de'luoghi onde di presente viene composta la prima opera (in Italian). Vol. II. Napoli: Vaglio, pp. 259-311.
  17. David. M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Diocese of Caltagirone". Retrieved: 10 October 2025.[ self-published source ]

Sources

37°14′00″N14°31′00″E / 37.2333°N 14.5167°E / 37.2333; 14.5167