It was the successor to the ancient diocese of Pausania or Phausania (Italian: Fausania) (6th to 8th? century), restored in 1070 as the Diocese of Gallura, and then in 1113 renamed the Diocese of Civita, after its episcopal seat. In 1506, the diocese of Civita was united to its neighbor, the diocese of Ampurias, with one and the same bishop presiding over two distinct dioceses. In 1839 it was renamed the Dioceses of Civita e Tempio. In 1986, the diocese of Civita was suppressed and its territory was merged into the Diocese of Tempio-Ampurias.
Ancient diocese of Fausania
No later than the sixth century, a Roman bishopric was established at a place called Pausania or Phausania, which may be Olbia, Tempio Pausania or even Posada (50km south of Olbia).[1]
While the local Saint Simplicius is traditionally called its first bishop (4th century?), a historical thesis holds it may have been (re?)founded by Catholic bishop(s) exiled by king Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom after his council of Carthage replaced them with Donatist heretic counterparts; it is suggested that the diocese of Fausania was abandoned again due to the invasion of the Ostrogoths under king Totila in 552. [2]
In 594, Pope Gregory the Great wrote to the Metropolitan archbishop of the Cagliari, the only metropolitan on the island, exhorting him to consecrate a candidate for the diocese of Fausania, which had not had a bishop for a long time. Its first documented incumbent, Bishop Victor, and the other bishops of Sardinia were advised in a papal letter in July 599 to pay due attention to their metropolitan;[3] the pope also wrote to Spesindeus, the Praeses Sardiniae, in October 600, recalling Victor's work to evangelize the pagan locals, and ordering him to assist the bishop.[4] and attended a synod in Rome in 600.[citation needed]
The see of Fausania (Φαυσιάνη) is still listed in the Byzantine Notitia Episcopatuum as a suffragan of Cagliari circa 1000.[5]
Diocese of Civita
The Basilica of San Simplicio in Olbia (former cathedral of Civita)
The diocese of Cività, now part of the diocese of Tempio-Ampurias, was allegedly founded in 304 by St. Simplicius. Simplicius is referred to as a priest in the sources, however, not a bishop.[6] The diocese was actually founded in the 12th century.[7] In the late 11th century, the church of San Simplicio was begun (in Olbia, then called Civita); its upper walls and barrel vaults are of the early 12th century, and the façade of the mid-12th century.
On 25 May 1133, Pope Innocent II placed the dioceses of Galtelli(na),[8] Civitas, and Populonia under the metropolitan jurisdiction of Archbishop Hubertus of Pisa. The same grant was made to his successor, Archbishop Balduin on 22 April 1138, with the bull "Tunc Apostolicae Sedis."[9] By the middle of the 13th century, however, the diocese was directly dependent upon the Papacy (i.e. not a member of any ecclesiastical province).[10]
During the Western Schism, several bishops of Ampurias e Tempio followed the Avignon Obedience, rather than the Roman Obedience.
Pope Gregory XVI suppressed the cathedral of Cività ed Ampurias in Terranova by the Bull "Quamvis aqua," signed on 26 August 1839, and raised the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, in Tempio, to cathedral status. Tempio and Ampurias were united, so that one bishop should govern both, aeque personaliter. The official title became "the bishop of Ampurias and of Tempio."[11] The name "Civita" ceased to be used, replaced by "Tempio."
They were formally merged on 30 September 1986, and renamed the Diocese of Tempio-Ampurias. After the merger, the former cathedral at Olbia (the former Civita) remained only a minor basilica, while the seat of the bishop is at the Cattedrale di S. Pietro Apostolo, in Tempio-Pausania.
↑S. I. Deledda, La cristianizzazione della Barbagia e della Gallura. La diocesi di Phausania tra urbanitas e rusticitas, Mogoro 2005
↑Raimondo Turtas, La Riforma tridentina nelle diocesi di Ampurias e Civita: dalle relazioni «ad limina» dei vescovi Giovanni Sanna, Filippo de Marymon e Giacomo Passamar (1586-1622), in Studi in onore di Pietro Meloni, Sassari 1988, pp. 233–259
↑The Diocese of Galtellì may have been founded as late as 1133. It was suppressed in 1496, and its territory assigned to the archdiocese of Cagliari. Kehr, p. 421.
↑Kehr, p. 422: "Quamvis subsequentes pontifices usque at Honorium III illi [Pisae] concessioni semper annuebant, tamen Civitatensis episcopatus una cum Galtellinensi non solum in elenchis sedium ad Romanam ecclesiae nullo medio pertinentium inde a saec. XII cr. med. legitur." Cappelletti, p. 163.
↑Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica(in Italian), Vol. 2 (Venezia: Emiliana 1840), p. 24, col. 2.
↑Pintus, p. 101. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 188.
↑Pope John XXII had reserved to the pope all he episcopal appointments on the island of Sardinia. Following the death of Bishop Peter, he appointed Fra Lorenzo, O.P. to the diocese of Civita on 11 September 1329. A canon of Civita, Parcissonus, disputed the appointment and attempted to have himself installed. On 1 October 1330, Pope John asked John, the titular Patriarch of Alexandria and brother of King Alfonso IV of Aragon and Sardinia, to intervene in Lorenzo's favor. G. Mollat, Jean XXII: Lettres communes(in Latin) Vol. 9 (Paris: E. de Boccard 1929), p. 5, no. 46547. Pintus, p. 101. Eubel I, p. 188 with note 2.
↑Sferrato was confirmed by Pope Clement VI on 10 June 1350. He was transferred to the diocese of Cagli on 6 November 1353, and on 29 January 1378 to the diocese of Marsico Nuovo (1378 – 1384). He followed Urban VI in the Western Schism. Pintus, p. 102. Eubel I, pp. 158, 188, 328.
↑Gerardus had been previously nominated, elected, and consecrated Bishop of Caorle (Caprulensis) in 1348, but his appointment was rejected by Pope Clement VI. He was appointed bishop of Civita on 6 November 1353 by Pope Innocent VI. Eubel I, pp. 164, note 5; 188 with note 3.
↑Alfonso had previously been Bishop of Citrum (Pydna, Macedonia). On 8 March 1363. He was transferred to Civita by Pope Urban V. Eubel I, pp. 188, 189.
↑Siffredof had been Prior of the Carmelite convent in Avignon. He was appointed bishop of Civita by Pope Clement VII on 15 May 1383. Pintus, p. 102. Eubel I, p. 189 with note 4.
↑Francesco had previously been titular Bishop of Sidon (1389–1390). Eubel I, pp. 189, 450 with note 7.
↑Simone Margens had previously been Bishop of Castro (Sardinia) from 1395. He was appointed on 26 September 1401 by Pope Boniface IX. Pintus, p. 103. Eubel I, pp. 174, 189.
Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol.IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. p.87. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol.V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol.6 (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
Bucolo, Raffaela (2010). "Fausania (Olbia?)," in: Raffaela Bucolo (editor), "Le sedi episcopali della Sardegna paleocristiana. Riflessioni topografiche," Rivista di archeologia cristiana 86 (2010), pp.378–383.
Lanzoni, Francesco (1927). Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), vol. II, Faenza 1927, pp.677–679
Spanu, Pier Giorgio Ignazio (1998). La Sardegna bizantina tra 6 e 7 secolo. Oristano 1998. pp.114–119.
Bibliography - Civita
Agus, Luigi (2009). San Simplicio in Olbia e la diocesi di Civita. Studio artistico e socio-religioso dell'edificio medievale. (in Italian). Catanzaro 2009.
Bima, Palemona Luigi (1845). Serie cronologica degli arcivescovi e vescovi del regno di Sardegna. (in Italian). Asti: Raspi & Riba 1845. (pp. 75-81)
Castellaccio, Angelo Aldo 2004). "Olbia nel medioevo. Aspetti politico-istituzionali," (in Italian), in: Da Olbìa ad Olbia. 2500 anni di storia di una città mediterranea, Sassari: Edes-Editrice Democratica Sarda, 2004, pp.33–70.
Floris, Giacomo (2013). Signoria, incastellamento e riorganizzazione di un territorio nel tardo Medioevo: il caso della Gallura. (in Italian). Universitat de Barcelona 2013.
Kehr, Paul Fridolin. Italia Pontificia(in Latin), Vol. X: Calabria – Insulae (Turici: Weidmann 1975). (pp.422–423; 436-437).
Mattei, Antonio Felice (1758). Sardinia sacra seu De episcopis Sardis historia nunc primò confecta a F. Antonio Felice Matthaejo. (in Latin). Romae: ex typographia Joannis Zempel apud Montem Jordanum, 1758. Pp. 275-280.
Oliva, Anna Maria (1996). "La diocesi di Civita all'epoca dei re cattolici," (in Italian), in: Da Olbìa ad Olbia. 2500 anni di storia di una città mediterranea, Chiarella Editrice, Sassari 1996, pp.277–289.
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