Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata Abbatia Territorialis Beatissimæ Mariæ Cryptæferratæ [1] Santa Maria di Grottaferrata | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Italy |
Ecclesiastical province | Holy See [1] |
Statistics | |
Parishes | 1 |
Churches | 1 |
Schools | 1 |
Members | 87 [2] |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Sui iuris church | Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church |
Rite | Byzantine Rite |
Established | 1937 [1] |
Cathedral | Exarchial Monastery of St. Mary of Grottaferrata [3] |
Patron saint | Nilo da Rossano [1] |
Secular priests | 10 |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Abbot Ordinary [1] | Vacant |
Apostolic Administrator | Marcello Semeraro |
Website | |
abbaziagreca.it |
The Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction which administers the Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata located in Grottaferrata, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The Abbacy and its territory are stauropegic, that is, directly subordinate to a primate or synod, rather than to a local bishop. It is the only remnant of the once-flourishing Italo-Greek monastic tradition. It is the only monastery of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata, (abbreviated O.S.B.I.), a religious order of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. The abbot ordinary is also the superior general of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata. [1] Though normally led by an abbot, the Abbacy has been under the authority of Bishop (now Cardinal) Marcello Semeraro since Pope Francis named him Apostolic Administrator of the Abbacy on 4 November 2013. [4]
The abbey was founded in 1004 [5] by St. Nilus of Rossano, a monk of Byzantine descent from Calabria, on what was believed to be the site where Cicero owned a villa and wrote his Quaestiones tusculanae . [6] It has remained in continuous operation since then. It is the only one of the Italo-Greek-Byzantine monasteries that has survived. Most of them gradually fell into decadence and were seized by the Kingdom of Italy when it secularized religious orders in 1866. Only the Grottaferrata monastery, considered a national monument, was allowed to continue with the monks as its guardians. In the course of time, the civil authorities have allowed them increasing independence.[ citation needed ]
On 1 November 1571, the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata was established. [7]
In the 1880s, the Holy See in anticipation of rapprochement with the Orthodox churches, ordered the liturgy of the monastery to be purged of the Latin elements that had been introduced over the centuries. [8] Vocations were no longer sought from the Italian people of Latin rite, but instead chiefly among the Italo-Albanians of Greek rite, and the monks set up new monasteries in Sicily and Calabria. These monks, in the wake of the Eastern Christian faith, kept the Byzantine rite alive, suppressing the danger in the now secular ritual collapse. The Italo-Albanian monks replaced the old Latin and Latinizing guard which had taken up ample space in Grottaferrata, contributing to the rebirth of the Abbey and becoming notable palaeographers, liturgists and musicologists, as well as among the main albanologists and byzantinists of the period.
These same monks were promoters of a careful ecumenism between the Church of the West and the Church of the East, with missions of peace and evangelization of territories in the Balkans that had passed to Islam during the Turkish domination, in particular in Albania. The effects of this mission, generally welcomed in a positive way by the Albanians, had quickly created a close religious and cultural bridge between the Albanian communities of Italy and Albania, with the rebirth of the Albanian Greek-Catholic Church and the ordination of various priests. Among these stood out the martyr and saint of Albania, who loved the arbëreshë communities, Papàs Josif Papamihalli (1912-1948), witness and apostle of the Eastern Christian faith, persecuted, arrested, sentenced to forced labor and killed during the communist dictatorship of Albania.
On 26 September 1937, the abbey was made a territorial abbacy. [9]
The Territorial Abbey also operates a rectory church in central Rome, Saint Basil at the Gardens of Sallust. [10] Abbot Apolemone Agreste, whose coat of arms appears on the arches within, had a church dedicated to Saint Basil built on St. Basil Street in Rome, not far from the Piazza Grimana, now the Piazza Barberini. Attached to it was a hospice. The monks of the Order of St. Basil had it restored in 1682, as an inscription on the doorway testifies. [11]
The Arbëreshë, also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group minority historically settled in Southern and Insular Italy.
Grottaferrata is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, 20 kilometres southeast of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby communes include Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Marino and Rome.
Basilian monks are Greek Catholic monks who follow the rule of Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea (330–379). The term 'Basilian' is typically used only in the Catholic Church to distinguish Greek Catholic monks from other forms of monastic life in the Catholic Church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, as all monks follow the Rule of Saint Basil, they do not distinguish themselves as 'Basilian'.
Nilus the Younger, also called Neilos of Rossano was a Griko monk and abbot from Calabria. He was the founder of Italo-Byzantine monasticism in southern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, and his feast day is celebrated on September 26 in both the Byzantine calendar and the Roman Martyrology.
A territorial abbey is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Catholics and parishes in the territory. Such an abbot is called a territorial abbot or abbot nullius diœceseos. A territorial abbot thus differs from an ordinary abbot, who exercises authority only within the monastery's walls or to monks or canons who have taken their vows there. A territorial abbot is equivalent to a diocesan bishop in Catholic canon law.
The Italian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Italy, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference of Italian Bishops. The pope serves also as Primate of Italy and Bishop of Rome. In addition to Italy, two other sovereign states are included in Italian dioceses: San Marino and the Vatican City. There are 225 dioceses in the Catholic Church in Italy, see further in this article and in the article List of Catholic dioceses in Italy.
The Church of St. Mary of the Admiral, also called Martorana, is the seat of the Parish of San Nicolò dei Greci, overlooking the Piazza Bellini, next to the Norman church of San Cataldo, and facing the Baroque church of Santa Caterina in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy.
San Demetrio Corone is a town and municipality in the Calabria region of Italy, at an altitude of 521 meters and with 3,387 inhabitants. The town is among the most important cultural centers of the Albanian communities in Italy and preserves the Albanian language, the Byzantine rites, customs, culture and ethnic identity of its origin. It is home to the Collegio of Sant'Adriano, a boarding school which produced many patriots and theorists/revolutionaries in the Italian Independence wars and is an important religious and cultural organism for the conservation of the oriental rite and of the Albanian traditions. It is part of the district of the Italo-Albanian Church of the Eparchy of Lungro.
Lungro is a town and comune (municipality) in the Province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of Italy.
Mezzojuso is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,003 and an area of 49.4 square kilometres (19.1 sq mi).
The Order of Saint Basil the Great, also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is a Greek Catholic monastic order of pontifical right that works actively among Ukrainian Catholics and other Greek-Catholic churches in central and Eastern Europe. The order received approbation on August 20, 1631, and is based at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Vilnius.
Eastern Christian monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East and some Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Eparchy of Lungro is a eparchy (diocese) of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic sui iuris of Byzantine Rite in Calabria, Italy.
The Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi is a eparchy (diocese) of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic sui iuris of Byzantine Rite, covering the island of Sicily in Italy.
Leoluca, also Leone Luca, Leo Luke of Corleone, Saint Leoluca, or Luke of Sicily was the abbot and wonderworker of the monastery of Mount Mula in Calabria, and a founder of Italo-Greek monasticism in southern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
The Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour abbreviated BS, also known as the Basilian Salvatorian Order, is an Eastern Catholic monastic order of Pontifical Right for men of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church. The name derives from its motherhouse, the Holy Saviour Monastery, at Joun in Chouf near Sidon, Lebanon.
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, compose the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous (sui juris) particular church in full communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches, but which follows the Byzantine Rite, the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It uses two liturgical languages: Koine Greek, the traditional language of the Eastern Churches, and Albanian, the native language of most of its adherents.
Giuseppe Schirò (1690–1769) was an Arbëreshë writer of the 18th century, and Catholic priest of the Byzantine Rite. In 1736, he was appointed Byzantine Catholic Archbishop of Durazzo.
San Basilio agli Orti Sallustiani is a rectory church in Rome, on via Trevi in the Trevi district. It is dedicated to Saint Basil. The church is a secondary place of worship for the Parish of San Camillo de Lellis.
The Pontifical Greek College of St. Athanasius is a Pontifical College in Rome that observes the Byzantine rite.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)