The Italian Catholic Diocese of Oria ( la, Dioecesis Uritana) is in
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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. It 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 Taranto.
["Diocese of Oria"]
''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 Oria"]
''GCatholic.org.'' Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
History
It would appear that
Oria Oyra () in early times had bishops of its own, because there is a record on a slab in the cathedral, dating from the eighth or ninth century, in which there is mention of a Bishop Theodosius, who was not one of the bishops of Brindisi. A bishop of ''Euryatensis'' is named in a ''Novella'' of Emperor Leo the Isaurian in 813, which might be a Greek spelling of ''Oriatensis''. When
Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
was destroyed by the Saracens in the ninth century, its bishops established their see at
Oria and called themselves Archbishops of Oria and Brindisi.
In 918, Oria, along with Reggio, Siponto and Taranto, was attacked and devastated by Moors. In 924 there was another attack by Saracens and Moors. In 925 Muslims captured Taranto and Oria. In 926 the Hungarians devastated a town called Auria, which has been identified as Oria. In 977 the Saracens (Agareni) burned and destroyed the town. In 979 Bishop Andrea Albanese began to reconstruct the town, despite the rapacity of the Greek Porphyrius the Protospatha. Porphyrius killed the bishop.
Struggle with Brindisi
In 1055 the Normans first appeared in Calabria, initiating a lengthy struggle between Byzantine forces who were occupying the territory and the Norman invaders. The ''Chronicum Northmannicum'' states that a battle took place at Oria, and that Humphredus (Onophrius), the brother of Count
William Iron-Arm, conquered the Greeks; he died the next year. His brother Count
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
captured Hydruntum and Castra Minervae, and in 1056 he seized Taranto, but was repulsed; he took it permanently in May 1060. That summer,
Count Malagerius came to Oria and expelled the Greeks from it. In 1062, Robert Guiscard took Brindisi again, and later came to Oria and took it again. In 1082 Oria was besieged by Geoffrey of Conversano, but in April his uncle Robert Guiscard raised the siege.
On 3 October 1089, while he was staying at Trani,
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...
wrote to Godinus, Bishop of Oria. He informed the bishop that the situation in the area had been fully investigated, and reminded him that the episcopal seat which was now situated at Oria had from antiquity been located in Brindisi, but that, when Brindisi had been devastated, the seat had been transferred to the municipality of Oria. But now that the city of Brindisi had been restored, the Pope wanted the episcopal seat returned to Brindisi, since Count Goffredus had promised the Pope that the properties of the Church of Brindisi would be restored and even augmented, and that the Church of Brindisi would live under its own government in accordance with Canon Law, always saving the authority of the Roman Pontiff. Even after their return to their former capital, however, the Bishops of Brindisi were addressed on occasion as "Archbishop of Oria". The title of archbishop was claimed from the days when Brindisi had belonged to the Greek church, but the Roman pontiffs declined, at least until the time of Paschal II, to recognize the title. This arrangement persisted until 1591.
Godinus of Brindisi, however, did not fully carry out the restoration of his diocesan seat, as Pope Urban had wanted. This brought a sharp rebuke from Urban II ten years later in the form of a letter to Bishop Godinus, warning him that he should keep to his episcopal seat in Brindisi and not engage in consecrating chrism, ordaining priests, and holding synods at Oria. He did advise him that the clergy and people of Oria should show proper respect for their Mother Church, and should not seek chrism from any other church. Their church was not a cathedral, and Oria was a town which belonged to the diocese of Brindisi, as Pope Calixtus II stated.
![Panorama oria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Panorama_oria.jpg)
Frederick II (1194–1250) built a castle on the hill of Oria, perhaps beginning in 1233, when he also fortified Naples, Trani, Bari, Brindisi, Albanese, Pagano and Papatodero. He also gave the Archbishop of Brindisi the piece of property on the eastern side of the hilltop where the castle was being built as the site for a new church, which was much later to become
Oria Cathedral
Oria Cathedral ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Oria, province of Brindisi, Apulia, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Oria.
History and ...
.
In 1219, as he was returning from his unsuccessful trip to Syria to convert the Sultan of Egypt, Saint Francis of Assisi visited Oria and began the establishment of a Franciscan convent there.
In 1559 the Marquisate of Oria was bestowed by King Philip II of Spain and Naples on Frederigo Borromeo of Milan, and when he died without issue in 1562, his successor was Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, the Administrator of the diocese of Milan. The Cardinal held the Marquisate for seven years before selling it to the Imperiali family (1569), for 40,000 ounces of gold. The gold was distributed by the Cardinal to the poor in a single day.
New diocese
The town was erected into an
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
on 8 May 1591 by
Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV ( la, Gregorius XIV; it, Gregorio XIV; 11 February 1535 – 16 October 1591), born Niccolò Sfondrato or Sfondrati, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 December 1590 to his death in October ...
, after the death of the Spaniard
Bernardino de Figueroa of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostuni
The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostium ( la, Archidioecesis Brundusina-Ostunensis) in Apulia, has carried its present name since 1986. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Lecce.[Oria Cathedral
Oria Cathedral ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Oria, province of Brindisi, Apulia, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Oria.
History and ...]
(the Cathedral of the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven) had a
chapter composed of four dignities (the Archdeacon of Oria, the Cantor, the Subcantor, and the Treasurer) and sixteen Canons. In 1746 there were eighteen Canons. The present Baroque cathedral dates from 1756, having been constructed after a violent earthquake destroyed the thirteenth-century church which had become the cathedral in 1591.
On 23 January 2010,
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
named Father
Vincenzo Pisanello a priest of the
archdiocese of Otranto
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Otranto (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Hydruntina'') is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy. The seat of the diocese is at Otranto Cathedral in the city of Otranto, Apulia. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of L ...
and Episcopal Vicar for Administration and Pastor of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul Church in
Galatina, Italy
Galatina ( el, label=Griko, Ας Πέτρο, As Pètro; scn, label=Salentino, San Pietru), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situate ...
(Lecce), as Bishop of Oria. He was born in Galatina on 3 May 1959 and ordained to the priesthood on 23 June 1984.
Bishops of the Diocese of Oria
''Erected: 8 May 1591''
*
Vincenzo del Tufo
Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include:
Art
*Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor
* Vincenzo Bell ...
,
C.R. (1596 – Sep 1600 Died)
*
Lucio Fornari
Lucio is an Italian and Spanish male given name derived from the Latin name ''Lucius''. In Portuguese, the given name is accented Lúcio.
Lucio is also an Italian surname.
Given name
* Lúcio (Lucimar Ferreira da Silva) (born 1978), Brazilian ...
(16 Sep 1601 – Sep 1618 Died)
*
Giandomenico Ridolfi,
C.R. (27 Jan 1620 – 15 Jul 1630 Died)
*
Marco Antonio Parisi (24 Nov 1632 Confirmed – 24 Jan 1649 Died)
*
Raffaele de Palma,
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 ...
(14 Feb 1650 – 5 Mar 1674 Died)
["Bishop Raffaele de Palma, O.F.M. Conv."]
''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 January 31, 2017
*
Carlo Cuzzolini (9 Sep 1675 Confirmed – 25 Feb 1697)
*Tommaso Maria Franza,
O.P. (3 Jun 1697 – 28 Jan 1719 Died)
*Giambattista Labanchi (27 May 1720 – 15 Jul 1746 Died)
*Castrensis Scaja (28 Nov 1746 – 12 Oct 1755 Died)
*François Joseph Antoine de los Reyes (5 Apr 1756 Confirmed – 19 Feb 1769 Died)
*Giovanni Capece (12 Mar 1770 Confirmed – Nov 1770 Died)
*Enrico Celaja (30 Mar 1772 Confirmed – Mar 1780 Died)
*Alexander Maria Calefati (17 Sep 1781 Confirmed – 30 Dec 1793 Died)
*Fabrizio Cimino,
C.SS.R. (29 Jan 1798 – 22 Mar 1818 Died)
*Francesco Saverio Triggiani, O.F.M. Conv. (21 Dec 1818 Confirmed – 27 Dec 1828 Resigned)
*Michele Lanzetta (18 May 1829 Confirmed – 6 Apr 1832 Resigned)
*Giovanni Domenico di Guido (29 Jul 1833 Confirmed – 16 Dec 1848 Died)
*Luigi Margarita,
C.M. (17 Feb 1851 Confirmed – 15 Apr 1888 Died)
*Tommaso Montefusco (1 Jun 1888 – 21 Jun 1895 Died)
*Teodosio Maria Gargiulo (21 Jun 1895 Succeeded – 16 Dec 1902 Died)
[Gargiulo was a native of Lecce, and a Canon in the Cathedral. He taught in the diocesan seminary, where eventually he became Rector. He was named Custodian of the house for Penitent Women (prostitutes). He was named titular bishop of Nilopolis and Coadjutor Bishop with right of succession to Bishop Monefusco of Oria on 18 March 1895. He succeeded to the diocese on 21 June. Oo 21 September 1897 Oria was stricken by a storm in which, in addition to the loss of lives, the episcopal palace, cathedral, seminary, and church of San Barsanofio were heavily damaged. In 1902, while on a trip to Lecce, he was stricken with pneumonia; he died on 16 December. Errico, pp. 204-207. Ritzler-Sefrin, VIII, p. 416, 576.]
*Antonio di Tommaso (22 Jun 1903 – 8 Feb 1947 Retired)
*Alberico Semeraro (1 May 1947 – 17 Mar 1978 Retired)
*Salvatore De Giorgi (17 Mar 1978 Succeeded – 4 Apr 1981 Appointed,
Archbishop of Foggia)
*Armando Franco (12 Sep 1981 – 15 Dec 1997 Died)
*Marcello Semeraro (25 Jul 1998 – 1 Oct 2004 Appointed,
Bishop of Albano
The Diocese of Albano ( la, Albanensis) is a suburbicarian see of the Roman Catholic Church in a diocese in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated some 15 kilometers from Rome, on the Appian Way.
Under c ...
)
*
Michele Castoro (14 May 2005 – 15 Jul 2009 Appointed,
Archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo)
*Vincenzo Pisanello (23 Jan 2010 – )
Notes
Books
Reference Works
* (in Latin)
* (in Latin)
*
* pp. 946–947. (Use with caution; obsolete)
* (in Latin)
* (in Latin)
* (in Latin)
*
*
*
Studies
*Antonucci, Giovanni (1933)
"Medioevo salentino : (Ricerche ed appunti): Sull'origine della diocesi di Oria" in ''Rinascenza salentina'' 1 (1933), pp. 310–316, at 315-316.
*
*
*Errico, F. A. (1906)
''Cenni storici sulla città di Oria e del suo insigne vescovado'' Napoli: Sordomuti.
*
*Giordano, O. (1972), "Documenti papali dei secc. XI e XII relative alle Diocesi di Brindisi e di Oria," in: ''Studi di Storia Pugliese in onore di Giuseppe Chiarelli'' Volume I (Galatina: M. Congido 1972), pp. 422–438.
*Kehr, Paulus Fridolin (1962). ''Italia pontificia. Regesta pontificum Romanorum.'
Vol. IX: Samnium–Apulia–Lucanium Berlin: Weidmann, pp. 383–396.
*
*
*
*
* Pedío, Tommaso (1976)
"La Chiesa di Brindisi dai Longobardi ai Normanni" in ''Archivio storico pugliese'' 29 (1976), pp. 3–47.
*
*
Acknowledgment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Oria
Oria
Religious organizations established in the 1590s
Oria