History
While it was part of the Byzantine empire, Ugento had Greek bishops and was subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople. Ugento was destroyed by the Saracens in the 8th century, and by the Turks in 1527. [3] The earliest recorded bishop, Joannes, is known from a Greek liturgical text, and he may have been a Greek bishop. The Greek rite flourished in many places in the diocese of Ugento until 1591.
Of the Latin bishops, the earliest known is the Benedictine monk of Montecassino, Symon, of unknown date. [4]
The Latin diocese used to be a suffragan of the archdiocese of Otranto, until 1980. [5]
In 1818, a new concordat with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies committed the pope to the suppression of more than fifty small dioceses in the kingdom. In the ecclesiastical province of Otranto, the diocese of Alessano, [6] formerly a suffragan of Otranto, was suppressed by Pope Pius VII in the bull "De Utiliori" of 27 June 1818, and its territory incorporated into the diocese of Ugento. [7] In the same concordat, the King acquired the right to nominate candidates for vacant bishoprics. That situation persisted down until the final overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in 1860. [8]
In 1959, Bishop Giuseppe Ruotolo (1937–1968) petitioned the Vatican for permission to add the name of the local manifestation of the Virgin Mary, S. Maria de Leuca, to the name of the diocese. His stated reasons were: to strengthen the traditional devotion of his people to the Virgin; to obtain favors from the Virgin; and to strengthen the bonds that connected his people with the Papacy. Pope John XXIII approved the petition, and on 1 August 1959 the Sacred Consistorial Congregation authorized the change, and delegated to Bishop Ruotolo all the necessary and appropriate powers to bring the change into effect. He was required to supply the Congregation with an authentic copy of the act which brought about the change. The change brought no alteration in the constitution, administration, or operation of the diocese. [9]
Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the Council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40, [10] the Episcopal Conference of Apulia petitioned the Holy See (Pope) that Lecce be made a metropolitan and that a new ecclesiastical province be created. After wide consultations among all affected parties, Pope John Paul II issued a decree on 20 October 1980, elevating Lecce to the status of metropolitan see. He also created the new ecclesiastical province of Lecce, whose constituent bishoprics (suffragans) were to be: Brindisi (no longer a metropolitanate, though the archbishop allowed to retain the title of archbishop), Otranto (no longer a metropolitanate, though the archbishop allowed to retain the title of archbishop), Gallipoli, Nardò, Ostuno, and Uxentina-S. Mariae Leucadensis (Ugento). [11]
Pope Francis visited the Diocese on Friday 20 April 2018. [12]
Cathedral and Chapter
The cathedral of Ugento was originally dedicated in honor of S. Vincent of Saragossa. When a new cathedral was built, in 1745 it was dedicated to the taking up (assumption) of the body of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
The cathedral was administered by a Chapter. The Cantor and Chapter are mentioned in the letter of Pope Martin IV on 23 November 1282, in which he approves their request to have Bishop Goffredus of Leuca transferred to Ugento as their bishop in succession to the late Bishop Lando. [13] In 1705, there were three dignities and twelve Canons in the Chapter. [14] In the mid-nineteenth century, the Chapter consisted of only one dignity, the Cantor, and ten Canons. [3]
Synods
A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. [15]
Bishop Ludovico Ximenes (Jiménez) (1627–1636) held a diocesan synod on 26 November 1628. [16] On 3 August 1645, Bishop Girolamo Martini (1637–1648) presided over a diocesan synod. [17] Bishop Antonio Carafa (1663–1704) held a diocesan synod on 27 October 1680, his second synod. [18] The Vicar Capitular, Giuseppe Felice Salzedo, held a synod in the cathedral on 20 May 1720. [19]
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