The Diocese of Mottola or Diocese of Motula (Latin: ''Dioecesis Motulensis'') was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

located in the town of

Mottola Mottola ( nap, label= Mottolese, Mòtele, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto and region of Apulia in southeast Italy. It stands on a hill above mean sea level in the sub-region of Murgia. It is also called "The Ionian Spy" ...

in the

province of Taranto The province of Taranto ( it, provincia di Taranto; Tarantino: ; Salentino: ), previously known as the province of the Ionian, is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Taranto. It has an area of , and a total popul ...

in the region of

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in southeast

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. In 1818, it was suppressed to the Diocese of Castellaneta."Diocese of Mottola (Motula)"
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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 ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved May 1, 2016"Titular Episcopal See of Mottola"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved May 1, 2016 Since 1968, the diocese has periodically been a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

Territory

The diocese included the villages of Mottola, Palagiano, Massafra and Palagianello. The episcopal see was the town of Mottola, where the church of Santa Maria Assunta, also dedicated to Saint

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

, patron of the city, served as a cathedral.

History

The Diocese of Mottola was erected in Norman times, after they conquered the city in 1023. The first bishop historically documented is John, mentioned in the diploma of 1081 in which Riccardo Siniscalco, Lord of Mottola and Castellaneta, donated some churches of Mottola and Massafra at the abbey of Cava, "assensum Ioannis Mutulensis episcopi," that is, "with the consent of John, the bishop of Mottola." The next Bishop of Mottola was Amuro, who in December 1100 confirmed for Abbot Orso of Santa Maria di Banzi his possession of the church of San Matteo in the territory of Castellaneta. In the diploma Amuro he signs as Mutulensis atque Castellanitensis ecclesie presul, bishop of the church of Mottola and Castellaneta, suggesting that at the time the two dioceses were united with one bishop. However, the union must have been short-lived, because in 1110 the Diocese of Mottola was again autonomous. In that year Bishop Valcauso, who confirmed to the Abbot of Cava the possession of the monasteries of Sant'Angelo and of San Vito di Casalrotto, of some churches, lands and other goods. Since its foundation, the Diocese was part of the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Taranto. The Diocese of Mottola had several notable bishops: Bishop Angelo Pascali (1537-1550) participated in the Council of Trent; Scipione Rebiba (1551-1556), later Archbishop of Pisa and Cardinal Ludovico della Quadra (1664-1695), completed the construction Of the Rosary Chapel; in 1600 Bishop Silvestro Tufo established the diocesan seminary, and Michele Palmieri (1798-1804) was the last bishop of Mottola. Fourteen years after the death of Palmieri, a period in which the seat remained vacant, with the agreement (6 February 1818) between

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

and Ferdinand I of Bourbon King of Naples, the diocese was suppressed and its territories were united to the diocese of Castellaneta . This act was effected on June 27, 1818, with ''De utiliori'' of Pius VII. Mottola has been a titular bishopric of the Catholic Church since 1968.

Angelo De Donatis Angelo De Donatis (born 4 January 1954) is an Italian Catholic prelate who currently serves as Cardinal Vicar (officially Vicar General of His Holiness), Archpriest of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical ...

, was named titular bishop of Mottola in September 2015 and then titular archbishop of Mottola in May 2017. He ceased to hold the title upon being made a cardinal. Gianfranco Gallone, newly appointed

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

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and

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, has been the titular archbishop of Mottola since being consecrated a bishop on 19 March 2019.

Ordinaries

Diocese of Mottola

''Erected: 1023''
''Latin Name: Motulensis''
''Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Taranto'' *Ciliberto de Fumis (Appointed 1040 – ) :... *Nicola de Genupia (17 Mar 1468 – 1471 Died) :... * Pietro Guercio (de Quercius) (13 Aug 1512 – 1524 Died) * Guido Guidone (10 Feb 1525 – 1528 Died) * Vito Ferrato (7 Aug 1528 – 1537 Died) * Angelo Pasquali, O.P. (6 Mar 1537 – 1550 Died) *

Scipione Rebiba Scipione Rebiba (3 February 1504 – 23 July 1577) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a protégé of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV. He held a variety of positions in the Church hierarchy, including some of the most sen ...

(12 Oct 1551 – 13 Apr 1556 Appointed,

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) G. Gulik and C. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica editio altera (curavit J. Schmitz-Kallenberg) (Monasterii 1935), 251. He held the See until 13 April 1556, when he was translated to Pisa. *Cesare Gesualdo (13 Mar 1560 – 1566 Died) *Giovanni Ludovico da Campania (5 Jul 1566 – 1579 Died) *Jaime Miguel Miguélez (3 Aug 1579 – 1599 Died) *Silvestro Tufo, C.R. (29 Nov 1599 – Oct 1600 Died) * Benedetto Rossi, C.R. (3 Dec 1601 – 1622 Died) * Francesco Saluzzo (2 May 1622 – 1627 Resigned) * Serafino Rinaldo (de Nuceria), O.P. (14 Apr 1627 – 27 Apr 1627 Died) *

Tommaso d'Ancora Tommaso d'Ancora, C.R. or Tommaso d'Ariconi (1583–1656) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Trani (1635–1656) ''(in Latin)'' and Bishop of Mottola (1630–1634). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Tommaso d'Ancora was born in S ...

(Tommaso Ariconi), C.R. (9 Sep 1630 – 8 Jan 1635 Confirmed,

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)"Archbishop Tommaso d'Ancora (Ariconi), C.R."
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''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 11, 2017 * Giovanni Battista Falesi, O.P. (15 Jan 1638 – 1648 Died)"Bishop Giovanni Battista Falesi, O.P."
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''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 31, 2017 * Tommaso d'Aquino, C.R. (24 Aug 1648 – 1651 Died)"Bishop Tommaso d'Aquino, C.R"
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''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016 *

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, O.F.M. (22 Jun 1654 – 1657 Died) * Gennaro De Andrea (8 Aug 1661 – 1664 Died) * Ludovico della Quadra (21 Jul 1664 – 15 Jan 1695 Resigned) * Francesco della Marra (2 Apr 1696 – Aug 1696 Died) * Michele Maria Dentice (27 Mar 1697 – Oct 1698 Died) :... *Pier Paolo Mastrilli (26 Nov 1703 – 7 Apr 1713 Died) *Biagio Antonio Copeti (15 May 1719 – May 1727 Died) *Antonio Bianchi di Gennaro, O.F.M. (24 Apr 1728 Confirmed – Aug 1729 Died) *Giovanni Antonio Chiaiese (12 Feb 1731 – Aug 1732 Died) *Nicola Paolo Pandolfelli (20 Jan 1734 – 19 Apr 1766 Died) *Stefano (Ildefonso) Ortiz Cortes,

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(2 Jun 1766 – Mar 1791 Died) *Agostino Andriani (18 Jun 1792 – 1795 Died) *Michele Palmieri (29 Jan 1798 – 29 Oct 1804 Appointed, Bishop of Troia) ''1818: Suppressed to the Diocese of Castellaneta''

Titular See

Bernard Joseph McLaughlin Bernard Joseph McLaughlin (November 19, 1912 – January 5, 2015) was an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo and also held the titular see of Mottola. Biography Early life and education ...

(28 December 1968 – 5 January 2015) *

(14 September 2015 – 28 June 2018) * Gianfranco Gallone (2 February 2019 - present)

References

{{coord missing, Italy Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy