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The Diocese of Ajaccio (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''Dioecesis Adiacensis''; French: ''Diocèse d'Ajaccio'') is a
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
ecclesiastical jurisdiction or
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 ...
of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
."Diocese of Ajaccio"
''
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 February 29, 2016
"Diocese of Ajaccio"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
The diocese comprises the whole of the island of
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
. Erected in the 3rd century, the diocese was formerly 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 Pisa The Archdiocese of Pisa ( la, Archidioecesis Pisana) is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Pisa, Italy.717, Pisan">708, Pisan); on 30–31 July 1716
French_Concordat_ The_Concordat_of_1801__was_an_agreement_between_Napoleon_Bonaparte_and__Pope_Pius_VII,_signed_on_15_July_1801_in_Paris._It_remained_in_effect_until_1905,_except_in__Alsace-Lorraine,_where_it__remains_in_force._It_sought_national_reconciliation__...
_of_1801,_the_diocese_became_a_suffragan_of_the_Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Aix.html" ;"title="Concordat_of_1801.html" "title="717, Pisan and on 31 J ... has been Giovanni Paolo Benotto. History In a letter of ...
. After the
French_Concordat_ The_Concordat_of_1801__was_an_agreement_between_Napoleon_Bonaparte_and__Pope_Pius_VII,_signed_on_15_July_1801_in_Paris._It_remained_in_effect_until_1905,_except_in__Alsace-Lorraine,_where_it__remains_in_force._It_sought_national_reconciliation__...
_of_1801,_the_diocese_became_a_suffragan_of_the_Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Aix">Archdiocese_of_Aix-en-Provence_and_Arles,_until_2002_when_it_was_attached_to_the_archdiocesan_province_of_Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Marseille.html" "title="Concordat of 1801">French Concordat The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation ...
of 1801, the diocese became a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aix">Archdiocese of Aix-en-Provence and Arles, until 2002 when it was attached to the archdiocesan province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Marseille">Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
. In 2012, in the diocese of Ajaccio, there was one priest for every 3,636 Catholics.


History

Its first bishop known to history was Evandrus, who assisted at the Council of Rome in 313. In 1077, Pope Gregory VII granted the sovereignty of the island of Corsica to Pisa. In 1347, Pisa was forced to cede its control over the island of Corsica to Genoa. Pope Eugene IV tried to reestablish papal sovereignty, but he failed. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Cathedral of Ajaccio had only two dignities, the Archpriest and the Archdeacon, and three Canons with three prebends.
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 ...
added five Canons, making a total of ten members of the body. In 1695, there were two dignities and twelve Canons. In 1759, Ajaccio had a population of around 5,000, under the political control of the Republic of Genoa, though the diocese was suffragan to the Metropolitan of Pisa. The Cathedral had one dignity and thirteen canons, there was one monastery of monks. Before the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, Corsica contained five other dioceses: *
Diocese of Accia The Diocese of Accia was a Roman Catholic bishopric on the island of Corsica. It is now a titular diocese. The diocese was located in the town of Accia in the interior region of Haute-Corse, which was destroyed and from which only some ruins rem ...
(vacant since 1563, and merged with the diocese of Mariana; both suppressed in 1790); *
Diocese of Aléria The Diocese of Aleria (Latin ''Dioecesis Aleriensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin rite, in the center of the eastern coast of the island of Corsica in the Department of Haute-Corse. The town of Aleria was subject to repeated raids ...
, an ancient city of the Phocians, whose bishop resided at Corte; * Diocese of Sagone, a vanished city whose bishop resided at Calvi, while the Chapter was at Vico; * Diocese of Mariana, also a vanished city, whose bishop resided at
Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
; *and Diocese of Nebbio (whose bishop resided in the port of Saint-Florent). The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1791) suppressed all these bishoprics in favor of one diocese for the entire island, called the Diocese de Corse, inside the province of the Côtes de la Méditerranée. The Byzantine ruins at
Mariana Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...
perpetuate the memory of the church built by the
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
ns in the 12th century.


Cathedral

There is a legend that the bishops banished from Africa to Corsica in 484 by
Hunneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was m ...
,
Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
King of the Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
, built with their own hands the primitive cathedral of Ajaccio. The present cathedral, dating from 1554 to 1593, owes its construction to the initiative of Gregory XIII, who while still
Ugo Buoncompagni Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
, spent some time at Ajaccio as
papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...
. The see was left vacant for five years, during which time the diocesan revenues were applied to the building of the cathedral. It was finished by Bishop Giustiniani after his nomination. It is said that the cathedral was designed by Giacomo della Porta, but a guidebook remarks, "Se è vero, non era molto in forma." Napoleon Bonaparte's uncle Lucien (Luciano) was Archdeacon of the Church of Ajaccio. Napoleon was baptized in the Cathedral on 21 July 1771. Liturgical services are held according to the Greek Byzantine rite in the village of
Cargèse Cargèse (; or ; it, Cargese ; el, Καργκέζε, Kargkéze) is a village and ''commune'' in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 27 km north of Ajaccio. , the commune had a population of ...
, founded in 1676 by the descendants of the Greek aristocrat Stephen Comnenus (Stephanos Comnenos), whom the
Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
had expelled from the
Peloponnesus The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...
.


Bishops


Before 1200

*Evandrus : (313) :''Sede vacante'' *Benedictus : (649) :...


1200 to 1400

:... *Aimericus : (1309–1322) *Vitalis Gracchi, O.E.S.A. : (1322–1342) *Manfred de Calcinara, O.Min. : (1342–1345) *Bertrand (Bernardo) Escharpiti, O.Min. : (1345–1348) *Filippo de Ursone, O.Min. : (1348–1351) *Vincenzo de Sassaro, O.Min. : (1351–1369) *Simon : (1369–1401)


1400 to 1600

*Petrus Corsus : (1401–1411) *Marco : (1411–1420) *Paolo de Albertis, O.Min. : (1420–1422) * Andreas Didaci de Escobar : (1422–1428) *Lucas de Offida, O.E.S.A. : (1429–1438) *Valeriano Calderini : (1438) *Rafael Spinola, O.Min. : (1438–1457) *Deodato Boctoni : (1457–1476) *Paolo di Bonifazio : (1477–1482) *Gabriel de Franchi, O.P. : (1482– ) *Cardinal
Paolo Fregoso Paolo di Campofregoso (1427 – 22 March 1498) was an Italian Catholic archbishop who was three times doge of Genoa. Biography The son of doge Battista Fregoso, he was convinced by Pope Nicholas V to study ecclesiastical matters at Pavia. In 14 ...
: (1482 – 1498?) Administrator. *Filippo Pallavicini : (1498–1518) *Giacomo Pallavicini : (1518–1539) *Leonardo Tornabuoni : (1539–1540) *Alessandro Guidiccioni : (1541–1548) *Giovanni Battista Bernardi : (1548–1578) *Cristoforo Guidiccioni : (1578–1582) :''Sede vacante'' *Giulio Giustiniani : (1587–1616)


1600 to 1800

*Fabiano Giustiniani, Orat. : (1616–1627) *Ottaviano Rivarola : (1627–1651) *Cardinal
Giovanni Stefano Donghi Giovanni Stefano Donghi (1608 – 26 November 1669) was an Italian Catholic cardinal. Early life Donghi was born in Genoa in 1608, the son of Bartolomeo Donghi and Giacoma Bernardi. After completing his undergraduate work in the Humanities and Ph ...
: (1651–1655) *Syrus Strassera, O.Theat. : (1655–1656) *Giovanni Gregorio Ardizzoni : (1656–1685) *Giovanni Paolo Inurea, O.Camald. (1686–1694) * Giovanni Battista Gentile, O.S.B. : (1694–1695) * Francesco Maria Sacco, O.Theat. : (1695–1697) *Pietro Spinola, O.F.M.Ref. : (1698–1715) *Agostino Spinola, C.R.Som. : (1716–1722) *Carlo Lomellino : (1723–1741) *Bernardino Centurione : (1741–1759) *Benedetto Andrea Doria : (1759–1794) **Ignace-François Guasco (1791–1793) (Constitutional Bishop of Corse)


1800 to 2000

*Louis Sébastiani (de La Porta) (13 April 1802 – 9 December 1831 Died). *Toussaint (Raffaele Sante) Casanelli d'Istria : (28 June 1833 – 12 October 1869 Died). *Pierre-Paul de Cuttoli (21 December 1869 – 18 December 1870 Died). *François-André-Xavier de Gaffory (27 February 1872 – 14 July 1877 Died). *Paul-Matthieu de La Foata (21 August 1877 – 3 January 1899 Died) *Louis Olivieri (7 December 1899 – 17 May 1903 Died) :Vacant *Marie-Joseph Ollivier (21 February 1906 – 21 March 1906 Died) *Jean-Baptiste Desanti (1 June 1906 – 11 February 1916 Died) *Auguste-Joseph-Marie Simeone (27 May 1916 – 30 July 1926 Appointed,
Bishop of Fréjus A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
) * Jean-Marcel Rodié (29 April 1927 – 7 March 1938 Appointed,
Bishop of Agen The Diocese of Agen (Latin: ''Dioecesis Agennensis''; French: ''Diocèse d'Agen'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Diocese of Agen comprises the ''département'' of Lot-et-Garonne, in t ...
) *Jean-Baptiste-Adrien Llosa (14 September 1938 – 26 July 1966 Retired)Casta, pp. 241–244. * André Charles Collini (26 July 1966 Succeeded – 22 December 1972 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Toulouse) * Jean-Charles Thomas (4 February 1974 – 23 December 1986 Appointed, Coadjutor Bishop of Versailles) *Sauveur Casanova (13 August 1987 – 5 January 1995 Retired) *
André Jean René Lacrampe André Jean René Lacrampe, Ist. del Prado (17 December 1941 – 15 May 2015) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Besançon. He was born on 17 December 1941 in Agos-Vidalos, a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France ...
, Ist. del Prado (5 January 1995 – 13 August 2003, Appointed Archbishop of Besançon)


Since 2000

*Jean-Luc Brunin (6 May 2004 Appointed – 24 June 2011, Appointed
Bishop of Le Havre The Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Havre (Latin: ''Dioecesis Portus Gratiae''; French: ''Diocèse du Havre'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Erected in 1974, the episcopal see is Le Havre Cathedral in the city of Le Havre. T ...
) *
Olivier de Germay Olivier Jacques Marie Certain de Germay de Cirfontaine (born 18 September 1960) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who has been metropolitan archbishop of Lyon since December 2020. He served as bishop of Ajaccio from 2012–2020. Before ta ...
(22 February 2012 – 22 October 2020, Appointed
Archbishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...
) * François-Xavier Bustillo O.F.M. Conv. (appointed 11 May 2021)


See also

*
Catholic Church in France , native_name_lang = fr , image = 060806-France-Paris-Notre Dame.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris , abbreviation = , type ...
*
List of Catholic dioceses in France The Catholic Church in France mainly comprises a Metropolitan Latin Church hierarchy, joint in a national episcopal conference, consisting of * fifteen ecclesiastical provinces, each under a Metropolitan Archdioceses (15) ** with a total of 80 su ...


References


Books

*Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1861). ''Le chiese d'Italia'
Tomo decimosesto
Venezia: Giuseppe Antonelli. pp. 307–324. Retrieved: 2016-10-26. * * (in Latin) * * * * * * * *


Acknowledgment

*


External links

* Centre national des Archives de l'Église de France
''L’Épiscopat francais depuis 1919''
retrieved: 2016-12-24.
Cathedral of Ajaccio
* David M. Cheney, ''Catholic-Hierarchy''

Retrieved: 2016-10-26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajaccio, Roman Catholic Diocese of
Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...
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 ...
3rd-century establishments in Roman Gaul Organizations based in Corsica