The Italian Catholic diocese of Venosa, in southern Italy, existed until 1986. In that year it was united into the Diocese of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa. From 1976 to 1986, Venosa had been a
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
Venosa
Venosa ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, ...
are contained in the mythological martyrdoms of the Twelve Brothers (286) and, in 303, of Felix, bishop of Thibiuca in Africa proconsularis, near Carthage. Francesco Lanzoni has shown that there are five different versions of the martyrology, sometimes with different companions, and different destinations to the place of execution. The first recension is assigned to the sixth century. The second recension of the martyrology mentions Venosa, but to do so two emendations of two different nonsensical place names are required. The third recension has the bishop executed at Nola, though his body ends up in Milan, or Nola (through an emendation of the text). Lanzoni agrees with most scholars in placing Bishop Felix's death in Africa near Carthage, under the proconsul Annulinus.
Stephanus (498) is the first Bishop of Venosa whose date is known accurately.
The names of other bishops up to the Norman conquest in the 11th century have not been preserved.
The Benedictine abbey of Santissima Trinità di Venosa was founded in 1043, under the patronage of the Norman Duke Drogo. The abbey became the mausoleum of the family of Duke Robert Guiscard.
It is alleged that a bishop of Venosa in the first half of the 13th century was assassinated by a cleric. Bishop Bono (1223) is usually named as the victim. The only source for the incident is the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, whose remark is preserved in a document in which he responds to a number of questions put to him by four bishops, sent as nuncios by
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
. The bishops complained that clerics were being thrown into imperial prisons and executed. Frederick, in a reproach to the laxity of church authorities, replied: " he Emperoris also aware of killings, because the Church of Venosa weeps over the death of their bishop, killed by a monk, because of the lack of punishment of clerics and monks.
A diocesan synod was held in Venosa by Bishop Giovanni Gerolamo Maneri (1585–1591) on 17 September 1589. Andrea Pierbenedetti (1611-1634) held a diocesan synod in Venosa on 2 April 1614. Bishop Pietro Antonio Corsignano held a diocesan synod in Venosa on 4–6 April 1728.
Bishop
Lamberto Arbaud
Lamberto Arbaud was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1510–?). ''(in Latin)''
On 16 November 1510, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Julius II as Bishop of Venosa.
It is uncertain how long he served as Bishop ...
(1509) embellished the cathedral, which was demolished a little later to permit the erection of fortifications.
The Napoleonic disruption and restoration
From 1801 to 1818 the see of Venosa remained vacant. From 1806–1808, Naples was occupied by the French, and
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
was made king, after Napoleon had deposed
King Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand ...
. Joseph Bonaparte was succeeded by
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
from 1808 until the fall of Napoleon in 1815.
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 ...
was a prisoner of Napoleon in France from 1809 to 1815, and was both unable and unwilling to make new episcopal appointments. The French expelled all monks, nuns, and Jesuits from the kingdom, and closed the monasteries and convents; colleges of canons were also closed.
Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the Kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that
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
King Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand ...
reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand, however, was not prepared to accept the pre-Napoleonic situation, in which Naples was a feudal subject of the papacy. Neither was he prepared to accept the large number of small dioceses in his kingdom; following French intentions, he demanded the suppression of fifty dioceses. Lengthy, detailed, and acrimonious negotiations ensued. On 17 July 1816, King Ferdinand issued a decree, in which he forbade the reception of any papal document, including papal bulls, without prior reception of the royal ''exequatur''. This meant that prelates could not receive bulls of appointment, consecration, or installation without the king's permission.
A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818. The re-erection of the dioceses of the kingdom and the ecclesiastical provinces took more than three years. The right of the king to nominate the candidate for a vacant bishopric was recognized, as in the Concordat of 1741, subject to papal confirmation (preconisation). On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull ''De Ulteriore'', in which the metropolitanate of Acerenza was restored, with Anglona e Tursi, Potenza, Tricarico, and Venosa as suffragans; the diocese of Lavello was permanently suppressed and united to the Church of Venosa.
In 1818, the diocese of Lavello, suffragan to the
archdiocese of Bari
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto ( la, Archidioecesis Barensis-Bituntina) is Metropolitan Latin rite archbishopric in the administrative Bari province, Puglia (Apulia) region, southeastern Italy (the 'Heel'), created in 1986, when ...
, was suppressed and its territory united to the diocese of Venosa. The city of Lavello was founded in 1042, when the Norman count Arniclino fixed his seat at Lavello.
Modern Developments
Following 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) ...
, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, ''Christus Dominus'' chapter 40,
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy. The decree "Eo quod spirituales" of 12 September 1976 created a new episcopal conference in the region called "Basilicata", to which were assigned all of the dioceses that belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Potenza; they had formerly belonged to the episcopal conference of "Apulia".
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 the unification of the dioceses of Melfi, Rapolla, and Venosa, into a single bishopric, to be named "Dioecesis Melphiensis-Rapollensis-Venusina", with its headquarters in Melfi. The cathedral of Melfi was designated the diocesan cathedral, and the cathedral of Venosa became a co-cathedral, and its Chapter became the Chapter of a co-cathedral. The diocese of Venosa was suppressed, and its territory united to the territory of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa. The diocese of Rapolla had been suppressed in 1528, and its territory united to the diocese of Melphi.
The diocese of Melfi is a
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of the
Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo
The Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo ( la, Archidioecesis Potentina-Murana-Marsicensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Basilicata, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year the Diocese of Muro Lucano was unit ...
Nicolas Solimele
Nicolas Solimele (died 1492) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1459–1492) and Bishop of Acerno (1436–1459).
Biography
On 7 August 1436, Nicolas Solimele was appointed by Pope Eugene IV as Bishop of Acerno.
On 1 ...
(17 Oct 1459–1492)
*Sigismundus Pappacoda (1492–1499)
*Antonio de Fabris (Fabrigas) (1499-1501)
Lamberto Arbaud
Lamberto Arbaud was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1510–?). ''(in Latin)''
On 16 November 1510, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Julius II as Bishop of Venosa.
It is uncertain how long he served as Bishop ...
(1510 - ? )
*
Tommaso da San Cipriano
Tommaso da San Cipriano was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1519–?). ''(in Latin)''
Biography
Tommaso da San Cipriano was ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers. In 1519, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope ...
Guido de' Medici
Guido de' Medici (died 1537) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chieti (1528–1537) and Bishop of Venosa (1527–1528).Eubel III, p. 330.
Biography
On 12 June 1527, Guido de' Medici was appointed Bishop of Venosa by Pope ...
(1527-1528)
*Fernando Seroni da Gerona, O.S.A. (23 Mar 1528 - 1542 Resigned)
* Alvaro della Quadra (12 May 1542 - 1551 Resigned)
* Simone Gattola (13 Mar 1552 - Apr 1566 Died)
*
Francesco Rusticucci
Francesco Rusticucci (died 1587) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Fano (1567–1587) and Bishop of Venosa (1566–1567). ''(in Latin)''
Biography
On 21 August 1566, Francesco Rusticucci was appointed during the papacy of Pope ...
(21 Aug 1566 - 31 Jan 1567 Appointed,
Bishop of Fano
The Diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola ( la, Dioecesis Fanensis-Forosemproniensis-Calliensis-Pergulana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Italy, created in 1986, when the historical Diocese of Fano was united to the Diocese o ...
)
*
Paolo Oberti
Paolo Oberti, O.P. (died 1567) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1567).
Biography
Paolo Oberti was ordained a priest in the Dominican Order. On 17 February 1567, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Pius V as B ...
Giovanni Antonio Locatelli Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...
(12 Dec 1567 - 7 Sep 1571 Died)
*
Baldassarre Giustiniani
Baldassarre Giustiniani (died 13 March 1584) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1572–1584). ''(in Latin)''
Biography
On 6 February 1572, Baldassarre Giustiniani was appointed during the papacy of Pope Pius V as Bishop ...
(6 Feb 1572 - 1584)
*Giovanni Tommaso Sanfelice (1584 - 6 Mar 1585 Died)
*Giovanni Gerolamo Mareri (1585–1587)
* Pietro Ridolfi da Tosssignano, O.Min.Conv. (4 May 1587 -1591)
* Vincenzo Calcio, O.P. (18 Feb 1591 - 3 May 1598 Died)
O.F.M. Conv.
The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites.
Dating back to ...
Francesco Maria Neri
Francesco Maria Neri (6 February 1628 – December 1684) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Venosa (1678–1684) and Bishop of Massa Lubrense (1672–1678).
Biography
Francesco Maria Neri was born in Tivoli, Italy on 6 February ...
Placido Scoppa
Placido Scoppa, C.R. (10 October 1640 – December 1710) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop (Personal Title) of Venosa (1699–1710) and Archbishop of Dubrovnik (1693–1699). ''(in Latin)''
Biography
Placido Scoppa was bo ...
, C.R. (1699 - Dec 1710)
:''Sede vacante'' (1710–1718)
*Giovanni Michele Teroni, B. (1718-1726)
*Felipe Itúrbide (Yturibe),
O. Carm.
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Ca ...
(31 Jul 1726 - 13 Mar 1727 Resigned)
*Pietro Antonio Corsignani (17 Mar 1727 -1738)
*Francesco Antonio Salomone (Salamone) (1738-1743)
*Giuseppe Giusti (20 May 1743 - 1764 Died)
*Gaspare Barletta (17 Dec 1764 - 1778 Died)
*Pietro Silvio di Gennaro (12 Jul 1779 - 1786 Died)
*Salvatore Gonnelli (18 Jun 1792 Confirmed - 23 Sep 1801 Died)
O.S.B.
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
(23 Jun 1828 Confirmed - Sep 1837)
*Michele de Gattis (2 Oct 1837 Confirmed - 23 Apr 1847)
*Antonio Michele Vaglio (22 Dec 1848 Confirmed - 28 Jul 1865)
:''Sede vacante'' (1865–1871)
*Nicola de Martino (1871–1878 Resigned)
*Girolamo Volpe (15 Jul 1878 Succeeded - 1880)
*Francesco Maria Imparati, O.F.M. (27 Feb 1880 - 23 Jun 1890 Appointed,
Archbishop of Acerenza e Matera
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
)
*Lorenzo Antonelli (1891-1905)
*Felice del Sordo (12 Aug 1907 -1911)
*Giovanni Battista Niola (Oct 1912 - Nov 1912 Resigned)
*Angelo Petrelli (20 May 1913 - 11 Sep 1923 Died)
*Alberto Costa (30 Apr 1924 - 7 Dec 1928 Appointed,
Bishop of Lecce
The Archdiocese of Lecce ( la, Archidioecesis Lyciensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Apulia, southern Italy. The diocese has existed since the 11th century. On 28 September 1960, in the bull ...
)
*Luigi dell'Aversana (Orabona) (14 Jan 1931 - 6 Nov 1934 Died)
*Domenico Petroni (1935–1966 Retired)Petroni was born in 1881. He held the degree of Doctor of canon law. He was named Bishop of Anglona e Tursi in 1930 by
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 ...
. He was transferred on 1 April 1935 to the diocese of Melfi e Rapolla and also named Bishop of Venosa. He retired on 5 October 1966, and was given the honorary title of Bishop of Marazanae Regiae. He died in 1978. ''Annuariu Pontificio'' various years. Roberto P. Violi (1990), ''Episcopato e società meridionale durante il fascismo (1922-1939)'' (An. Veritas Ed., 1990), p. 105.
*Giuseppe Vairo (5 Mar 1973 - 25 Oct 1976 Appointed,
Bishop of Tricarico
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Tricarico ( la, Dioecesis Tricaricensis) is in Basilicata. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo.Bishop of Oria
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Oria ( la, Dioecesis Uritana) is in Apulia. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Taranto.Diocese of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa''
*
*
*Di Ciesco, T. (1894). ''Catalogo dei Vescovi della venosina diocesi con brevi notizie intorno a Venosa e le sue chiese'' , Siena: Tip. Edit. S. Bernardino 1894.
*Kamp, Norbert (1975). ''Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien.'' I. Prosopographische Grundlegung: 2. Apulien und Kalabrien. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
*Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1962). ''Italia pontificia''. Vol. IX: Samnium — Apulia — Lucania. Berlin: Weidmann.
*Lanzoni, Francesco (1927). Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604) '. Faenza: F. Lega, pp. 285–288; 291-299.
*Torelli, Felice (1848) ''La chiave del Concordato dell'anno 1818 e degli atti emanati posteriormente al medesimo.'' Volume 1, second edition Naples: Stamperia del Fibreno, 1848.
*
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Venosa
Venosa ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, ...