Diocese of Caltagirone

Diocese of Caltagirone Dioecesis Calatayeronensis
Exterior of the Cathedral of Caltagirone
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Catania
Statistics
Area	1,551 km2 (599 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2023) 138,780 132,320  (95%)
Parishes	57
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	12 September 1816 (209 years ago)
Cathedral	Basilica Cattedrale di S. Giuliano
Secular priests	79 (diocesan) 13 (religious Orders) 12 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Calogero Peri, OFMCap
Map
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.

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 approached 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] 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. ^[7] The territory is subdivided into 57 parish churches.

The collegiate Chapter of S. Giuliano was abolished, and the church reduced to the status of a simple parish church. It was then elevated to the rank of a cathedral, and the cathedral Chapter was created; it had five dignities (the Archdeacon, the Provost, the Dean, the Cantor, and the Treasurer) sixteen canons, and twelve secondary canons mansionarii. ^[8]

The diocese of Caltagirone was made a suffragan of the archdiocese of Monreale. ^[9]

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. ^[10]

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. ^[11]

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. ^[12]

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, ^[13]

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. ^[14]

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.

Bishop Giovanni Bargigia presided at the second diocesan synod in Caltagirone, summoned by him on 6 January 1933. ^[15]

Bishops

• Gaetano Trigona e Parisi (21 December 1818 – 15 April 1833) ^[16]
• Benedetto Denti, OSB (15 April 1833 – 3 August 1853) ^[17]
• Giuseppe Maria Maniscalco, OFM (17 April 1854 – 10 April 1855) ^[18]
• Luigi Natoli (15 March 1858 – 22 February 1867) ^[19]

Sede vacante (1867–1872) ^[20]

• Antonio Morana (23 February 1872 – 18 August 1879) ^[21]
• Giovanni Battista Bongiorno (22 September 1879 – 14 March 1887) ^[22]
• Saverio Gerbino (14 March 1887 – 16 March 1898) ^[23]
• Damaso Pio De Bono (28 November 1898 – 17 December 1925) ^[24]
• Giovanni Bargiggia (14 March 1927 – 6 July 1937) ^[25]
• Pietro Capizzi (12 August 1937 – 11 November 1960)
• Francesco Fasola, OSSGCN (11 November 1960 – 25 June 1963)
• Carmelo Canzonieri (30 July 1963 – 8 January 1983)
• Vittorio Luigi Mondello (30 July 1983 – 28 July 1990)
• Vincenzo Manzella (30 April 1991 – 17 September 2009)
• Calogero Peri, OFMCap, from 30 January 2010 ^[26]

See also

• Luigi Natoli (bishop)

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. 1384, col. 1.
8. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1390, col. 1 § 16: "Decernentes insuper, praepositum, et archdiaconum, ac decanum, et cantorem, ac thesaurarium, necnon sexdecim canonicos, et duocecim mansionarios canonicos secundarios, ut praefertur, nuncupatos dictae cathedralis ecclesiae Calatajeronensis per Nos, ut praefertur, erectae nunc, et pro tempore existentes....".
9. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1385, col. 1 "...in cathedralem ecclesiam Calatajerononsem eiam nuncupandam archiepiscopo Montis Regalis pro tempore existenti suffraganeam, eique metroolitico jure subjectam...."
10. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1390, col. 2 § 18..
11. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 126.
12. Bullarii Romani continuatio, pp. 1391, col. 2 § 20.
13. 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...."
14. 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.
15. Raffaele Panebianco, La diocesi di Caltagirone nella riforma del Concilio Vaticano II, (in Italian) (Booksprint, 2021).
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. Natoli was born in Patti. He had been canon theologicus and Prior of the cathedral Chapter of Patti; he had been Vicar-general and Vicar-capitular of the diocese of Patti, as well as Rector of the seminary, where he taught eloquence, Canon Law, dogmatic and moral theology. He was appointed bishop of Caltagirone on 15 March 1858. He was transferred to the archdiocese of Messina on 22 February 1867, by Pope Pius IX. He died on 24 February 1875. Giovanni Marino, Discorso accademico per lo solenne natalizio giorno di sua maestà siciliana Ferdinando 2. scritto e recitato in Messina nella pubblica tornata del 13 gennaio 1859,(in Italian) (Messina: Orazio Pastore, 1859), p. 6. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 171, 380.
20. Gaetano Zito, La cura pastorale a Catania negli anni dell'episcopato Dusmet (1867-1894), (in Italian) (Galatea, 1987), p. 61.
21. Morana was a priest of the diocese of Noto, and had been Rector of the seminary of Noto. He was appointed bishop of Caltagirone at the age of 46, by Pope Pius IX on 23 September 1872. He died on 18 August 1879. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 171.
22. Bongiorno had been the private secretary of Bishop Morana. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 171.
23. A native of Caltagirone, Gerbino held the degree of doctor in utroque iure . He was a teacher of the humanities at the seminary, and archdeacon of the Collegiate Church of San Giacomo. He had been bishop of Piazza Armerina from 1872 to 1882. He was transferred to the diocese of Caltagirone by Pope Pius IX on 14 March 1887, and allowed to serve as administrator of Piazza Armerina until the arrival of a new bishop. He died on 16 March 1898. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VIII, pp. 171, 459.
24. De Bono was a native of Bovino (diocese of Agrigento). He was appointed bishop of Caltagirone by Pope Leo XIII on 28 November 1898). He resigned the diocese at the age of 75 on 17 December 1925, and was appointed titular bishop of Troas (Turkey). He died in 1927. Ritzler & Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VIII, p. 171. Alessandro De Bono, Damaso Pio De Bono e Luigi Sturzo, (in Latin), (Caltagirone: Istituto di Sociologia Luigi Sturzo di Caltagirone, 2003).
25. Bargigia was born at Lacchiarella (archdiocese of Milano). He was parish priest of the church of B. M. V. de Sacratissimo Rosario in Milan when he was nominated bishop of Caltagirone on 13 March 1927 by King Victor Emmanuel III. He was approved on 14 March 1927, by Pope Pius XI. The "exequatur" was granted on 23 June 1927. Bargigia was transferred to the Diocese of Vigevano (Piedmont) on 6 July 1937. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 19 (1927), p. 137. Annuario pontificio(in Italian) (Roma 1928), p. 101. Bollettino ufficiale del Ministero della giustizia e degli affari di culto, (in Italian) (Rome: Tipografia della Camera dei deputati, 1927), pp. 249 col. 2; 523, col. 1.
26. David. M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Diocese of Caltagirone". Retrieved: 10 October 2025.^{[ self-published source ]}

Sources

• Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1870). Le chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Vol. vigesimoprimo (21). Venezia: Antonelli. pp. 628–629.
• D'Avino, Vincenzio (1848). Cenni storici sulle chiese arcivescovili, vescovili, e prelatizie (nullius) del regno delle due Sicilie (in Italian). Naples: dalle stampe di Ranucci. pp.  129–131.. [article by Saverio Grasso].
• Manduca, Raffaele (2014). La Sicilia e l'inchiesta sui regolari di Pio IX: La diocesi di Caltagirone. (in Italian). Messina: Il Grano Edizioni, 2014.
• Panebianco, Raffaele (2021). La diocesi di Caltagirone nella riforma del Concilio Vaticano II. (in Italian) (Booksprint, 2021).
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1968). Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. 7 (1800–1846). Monasterii: Libr. Regensburgiana.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1978). Hierarchia catholica Medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. 8 (1846–1903). Il Messaggero di S. Antonio.
• Pięta, Zenon (2002). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi (in Latin). Vol. 9 (1903–1922). Padua: Messagero di San Antonio. ISBN   978-88-250-1000-8.

External links

• Diocesan website (in Italian)

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