The Diocese of Montalto (Latin: ''Dioecesis Montis Alti'') was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of

Montalto delle Marche Montalto delle Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) and former Latin catholic bishopric in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Le Marche, located in the hilly area that goes from the Adriatic cost to the Sibillini Mountains, at ...

in the

Province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno ( it, Provincia di Ascoli Piceno) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Province of Fermo to the north ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

Le Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

. The diocese was erected in 1586 by

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

(Felice Peretti di Montalto), a native of the town. The diocese was suppressed in 1986, and its territory was assigned to a new entity, called the Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto–Ripatransone–Montalto."Diocese of Montalto (delle Marche)"
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Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in Ka ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved May 17, 2017"Diocese of Montalto "
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved May 17, 2017

Ecclesiastical history

On 24 November 1586, the Latin rite Diocese of Montalto was established, on territory split off from the then Diocese of Fermo (now an Archdiocese). In a bull of 18 December 1924,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

united the Diocese of Ripatransone with the diocese of Montalto ''ad personam episcopi''. He appointed Luigi Ferri as Bishop of Ripatransone with Montalto, and ordered a change in the title of the bishop to ''Episcopus Montis alti et Ripanus''. In 1980, the diocese of Montalto had a population of only 31,500 persons.

Restructuring

The

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

(1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses. It also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures. These considerations applied to Montalto and to Ripatransone as the population migrated in the post-war period to jobs on the coast at San Benedetto. On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of ''Normae'' was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, ''aeque personaliter'', was abolished. Instead, the Vatican continued consultations which had begun under

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese. On 30 September 1986,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

ordered that the dioceses of Ripatransone and Montalto be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title ''Dioecesis Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti''. The seat of the diocese was to be in San Benedetto del Tronto, and the church of S. Maria della Marina was to serve as the cathedral of the merged dioceses. The cathedrals in Ripatransone and Montalto were to become co-cathedrals, and the cathedral Chapters were each to be a ''Capitulum Concathedralis''. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in San Benedetto del Tronto, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the former dioceses of Montalto and Ripatransone. The town is the site of the

cathedral of Montalto delle Marche A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

, dedicated to the taking up of the body of the Virgin Mary into heaven (Assumption).

Bishops of Montalto

* Paolo Emilio Giovannini (1586–1606) * Tiberio Mandosi (1606–1607) * Paolo Orsini, O.P. (1608–1640) *

Orazio Giustiniani Orazio Giustiniani (28 February 1580 – 25 July 1649) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. Biography Giustiniani was born the Island of Chios, then part of the Republic of Genoa, to the powerful Giustiniani family. He was a relative of two Bi ...

, C.O. (1640–1645) *

Girolamo Codebò Girolamo Codebò (died 1661) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Reggio Emilia (1661) and Bishop of Montalto delle Marche (1645–1661).Gauchat, p. 246. Biography On 6 Feb 1645, Girolamo Codebò was appointed by Pope Innocent X ...

(1645–1661) * Cesare Cancellotti, C.O. (1662–1673) *

Ascanio Paganelli ''Ascanio'' is a grand opera in five acts and seven tableaux by composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The opera's French libretto, by Louis Gallet, is based on the 1852 play ''Benvenuto Cellini'' by French playwright Paul Meurice which was in turn based ...

(1673–1710) * Lucantonio Accoramboni (1711–1735) * Pietro Bonaventura Savini (1735–1748 retired) * Leonardo Cecconi (1748–1760) * Giuseppe Maria Centini (1760–1770) * Francesco Antonio Marucci (1770–1798) *

Francesco Saverio Castiglioni Pope Pius VIII ( it, Pio VIII; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's ...

(1800–1816) * Pietro Paolo Mazzichi (1817–1823) * Filippo Ambrosi (1823–1825) * Luigi Canestrari, O.M. (1825-1846) * Eleonoro Aronne (1846–1887) * Luigi Bonetti (1887–1911) * Luigi Ferri (1911–1946) * Pietro Ossola (1946–1951) * Vincenzo Radicioni (1951–1983) * Giuseppe Chiaretti (1983–1986)Chiaretti had been Vicar General of the archdiocese of Spoleto. He was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone-San Benedetto del Tronto by

on 7 April 1983. With the consolidation of dioceses, he became the first Bishop of San Benedetto del Tronto–Ripatransone–Montalto on 30 September 1986 He was transferred to the archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve on 9 December 1995. ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'' 75 (Città del Vaticano 1983), p. 526. He retired on 16 July 2009.

Notes and references

Books

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Studies