The Diocese of Mariana in Corsica (Latin : Dioecesis Marianensis) was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Mariana, Corsica, in the north-eastern corner of the island. [1] [2] In 1563 the diocese was united with the Diocese of Acci(a) to form the Diocese of Accia and Mariana. [2] Both dioceses were poor and had lost population. Mariana had been abandoned and its bishop lived in Bastia to the north, the seat of the civil government of the island. The Cathedral sat alone near the banks of the River Golo some three miles from the sea, in the midst of fields.
In the earliest history of the diocese, Ferdinando Ughelli reports [3] the existence of a Saint Petreius, Bishop of Mariana and martyr, for whom a shrine was built by a certain Ugo Colonna of Rome, according to the Sacra Corsicae Chronica of Salvatore Vitale. [4] Giuseppe Cappelletti points out that Vitale is the only source of the story, but that Ugo Colonna built the Cathedral, which was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and that San Petreio was a different church. He also notes that the Martyrologies do not report the existence of a bishop, a bishop and martyr, or just a martyr named Perseo or Petreio. [5] Pius Gams both italicizes the name Perseus and puts it in parentheses, indicating grave suspicion. [6]
Ughelli then reports the existence of a Bishop Catanus, Corsicanus episcopus, who attended the Synod of Arles in 314. Neither the name nor the diocese of Mariana occurs, however, in the list of those who attended the Synod. [7]
Ughelli thirdly reports the existence of Bishop Leo of Corsica, on the authority of letters of Pope Gregory I and the Sacra Corsicae Chronica of Salvatore Vitale. Bishop Leo did exist, but Pope Gregory addresses him as episcopus in Corsica, bishop in Corsica, not bishop of Corsica. [8] Leo had been sent by the Pope as an Apostolic Visitor, since, as the Pope notes, the dioceses of Corsica had long been vacant. [9]
The fourteenth century was a period of extreme crisis in Corsica. Roger Caratini notes that the population of ordinary people on the island had decreased by 8% between 1300 and 1350, mostly by migration to the territory of Pisa; then came the Black Death; between 1350 and 1400 the population decreased another 19%. [10] The ability to maintain traditional institutions in the face of the new Genoese overlords was greatly compromised.
In 1453 Pope Nicholas V entered into a verbal agreement with the Republic of Genoa, which specified that, although the Pope maintained the exclusive right to appoint bishops on the Island of Corsica, he would appoint only Genoese subjects who were acceptable to the Government. The Genoese government turned the island over to the administration of the Genoese Banco di S. Giorgio, under new statutes for Corsica were issued, the Capitula Corsorum, which specified that bishops on the island had to be natives of the island. In 1464, however, the Republic of Genoa came under the domination of the Duchy of Milan, and it was the Milanese who decided appointments. In 1479 the Milanese were compelled to evacuate Corsica, and their regulations were nullified. [11]
In 1563, considering the extreme poverty of the diocese of S. Pietro de Accia, which could no longer support a bishop, Pope Pius IV joined the diocese with the diocese of Mariana, with the new title of Bishop of Mariana and Accia. [12]
During the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly reformed the Church in France, drawing up the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 July 1790). [13] All clergy were obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, [14] thereby effectively entering into a schism with the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church. The number of bishoprics in France was dramatically reduced. The five bishoprics on the island of Corsica were suppressed and combined into one, to be called the diocèse de Corse.
When the electors of Corsica assembled, they elected Ignace-François Guasco, Provost (or Dean) of the Cathedral Chapter of Mariana as their 'Constitutional Bishop'. The canonical bishop Verclos made his protest and fled to the mainland of Italy. Guasco was consecrated at Aix on 16 June 1791 by Constitutional Bishop Charles-Benoît Roux, Metropolitan of Bouches-de-Rhône; the consecration was valid but illicit and schismatic. On 11 August 1793, judging that the territory of Corse was too large, the National Convention in the Constitution of 1793 divided both the department and the diocese of Corse into two, Golo (Guasco, resident at Ajaccio) and Liamone, and ordered a second bishop to be elected for the northern and eastern part of the island. Before this could be done, however, the British seized the island, and on 23 December 1793, Guasco recanted [15] and resigned. [16] Bishop Verclos immediately returned to Corsica.
In November 1801, the decision was taken by Pope Pius VII in implementing the Concordat of 1801 not to alter the situation in Corsica which had been imposed by the French Revolution. All of the dioceses remained suppressed, with the exception of Ajaccio, which had been the center of the 'Constitutional Bishop of Corse' and which was coincidentally the birthplace of the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte.
In April 2002 the title Bishop of Mariana in Corsica (though not the diocesan apparatus) was revived. [17] It has been used to qualify a priest as an auxiliary bishop, and to reward a domestic prelate in the Papal Household. The titular see of Accia was separately revived in 1968. [18]
The Archdiocese of Capua is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Capua, in Campania, Italy, but its archbishop no longer holds metropolitan rank and has no ecclesiastical province. Since 1979, it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Napoli, i.e. no longer has its own ecclesiastical province nor metropolitan status.
The Diocese of Ajaccio is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the whole of the island of Corsica.
The Diocese of Saluzzo is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, centered in the comune of Saluzzo. The diocese was established on 29 October 1511 for political reasons, to transform the Marquisate of Saluzzo into an ecclesiastic territory, and was directly dependent upon the Holy See. It is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferentino existed until 1986, when it was united into the new diocese of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino.
The Diocese of Grosseto is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino, in Tuscany. Its current bishop is Giovanni Roncari, OFMCap.
The Diocese of Nocera Umbra was a Catholic diocese in Umbria, Italy.
The Diocese of Orvieto-Todi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. It was created in 1986 when the historical Diocese of Orvieto was united to the Diocese of Todi. The Diocese of Orvieto-Todi is immediately exempt to the Holy See and not part of any ecclesiastical province.
The Diocese of Savona-Noli is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. It was historically the Diocese of Savona, from the tenth century. In 1820 the Diocese of Noli was united to the Diocese of Savona. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa.
The Archdiocese of Pescara-Penne is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church on the east coast in central Italy.
The Catholic diocese of Sarsina was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, seated in Sarsina, in the province of Forlì, some 32 km south-southwest of Cesena. The diocese was founded in the 5th century, and was suffragan (subordinate) to the archbishop of Ravenna. The diocese existed until 1986, when it was united with the diocese of Cesena.
The Diocese of Pozzuoli is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Campania, southern Italy. It is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples, like its other neighboring dioceses, Aversa and Ischia.
The Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Lazio, Italy. It was established under this name in 1986. It is the continuation of the Diocese of Terracina, Priverno e Sezze, whose existence was confirmed by Pope Honorius III in 1217, as a joining of the Diocese of Terracina with the Diocese of Priverno and the Diocese of Sezze under a single bishop. It is immediately exempt to the Holy See.
The Diocese of Acerra is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Campania, southern Italy, eight miles east of Naples, in the area once called Terra Laboris (Liburia). It has existed since the 11th century. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples.
The Diocese of Sessa Aurunca is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Italy. Since 1979 it has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples.
The Diocese of Anagni-Alatri is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Lazio, Italy. It has existed in its current form since 1986. In that year the Diocese of Alatri was united to the historical Diocese of Anagni. The diocese is immediately exempt to the Holy See.
The Diocese of Mariana and Acci or Diocese of Accia and Mariana was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory. It is now a titular see.
The Diocese of Accia was a Roman Catholic bishopric on the island of Corsica. It is now a titular diocese. The diocese was located in the town of Accia in the interior region of Haute-Corse, which was destroyed and from which only some ruins remain. Established in 824 AD it was merged with the Diocese of Mariana in 1554. In 1570 the Bishop of Mariana and Accia moved his seat to Bastia.
The Diocese of Aleria is, since 2002, a titular see of the Catholic Church. It was formerly a diocese of the Latin Church in the center of the eastern coast of the island of Corsica in the Department of Haute-Corse. The town of Aleria was subject to repeated raids by Arab fleets in the eighth and ninth centuries, and, eventually, abandoned. The bishop moved to a secure stronghold to the north. From at least the eleventh century, the diocese was a suffragan of the metropolitan archdiocese of Pisa. The diocese was suppressed by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790, and was not revived by the Concordat of 1801 between the French Consulate and the Papacy.
The Diocese of Sagone was a Roman Catholic diocese in France, located in the city of Sagone, Corsica. In 1801, it was suppressed, and its Catholic population assigned to the Archdiocese of Ajaccio.
The Diocese of Nebbio was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Saint-Florent in Corsica. The Cathedral is on a low hill one mile from the port of Saint-Florent. In the Medieval period the Bishop of Nebbio was also the temporal lord of nearly all the lands in his diocese. In 1667, Nebbio was completely abandoned and the bishop lived in Saint-Florent, a town of about 200 inhabitants, under the dominion of the Republic of Genoa. The diocese had some 22 places. The Cathedral Chapter had two dignities, the Archdeacon and the Provost, and three Canons. In 1770 the diocese was under the dominion of the King of France, and Saint-Fleur had about 600 inhabitants. The Chapter of the Cathedral still existed, with two dignities and six Canons.
{{cite book}}
: |first1=
has generic name (help)