The Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction which administers the Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata located in

Grottaferrata Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby comm ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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, Italy. The Abbacy and its territory are

stauropegic A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from el, σταυροπήγιον from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Syn ...

, that is, directly subordinate to a primate or synod, rather than to a local bishop. It is the only remnant of the once-flourishing Italo-Greek monastic tradition. It is the only monastery of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata, (abbreviated O.S.B.I.), a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. The abbot ordinary is also the superior general of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata. Though normally led by an abbot, the Abbacy has been under the authority of Bishop

Marcello Semeraro Marcello Semeraro (born 22 December 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints since October 2020. He was previously Bishop of Albano and secretary to the group of ca ...

since

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

named him Apostolic Administrator of the Abbacy on 4 November 2013. The abbey was founded in 1004 by St.

Nilus of Rossano Nilus the Younger, also called Neilos of Rossano ( it, Nilo di Rossano, gr, Όσιος Νείλος, ο εκ Καλαβρίας; 910 – 27 December 1005) was a monk, abbot, and founder of Italo-Byzantine monasticism in southern Italy. He is ven ...

, a monk of Greek descent from Calabria. It has remained in continuous operation since then. It is the only one of the Italo-Greek monasteries that has survived. Most of them gradually fell into decadence and were seized by the Kingdom of Italy when it secularized religious orders in 1866. Only the Grottaferrata monastery, considered a national monument, was allowed to continue with the monks as its guardians. In the course of time, the civil authorities have allowed them increasing independence. On 1 November 1571, the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata was established. In the 1880s, the Holy See in anticipation of rapprochement with the Orthodox churches, ordered the liturgy of the monastery to be purged of the Latin elements that had been introduced over the centuries. Vocations were no longer sought from the

Italian people , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

, but instead chiefly among the Italo-Albanians and the

Griko people The Griko people ( el, Γκρίκο), also known as Grecanici in Calabria, are an ethnic Greek community of Southern Italy. They are found principally in regions of Calabria and Apulia (peninsula of Salento). The Griko are believed to be remnants ...

, and the monks set up new monasteries in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. On 26 September 1937, the abbey was made a

territorial abbacy A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Ca ...

. The Territorial Abbey also operates a rectory church in central Rome, Saint Basil at the Sallust Gardens. Abbot Apolemone Agreste, whose coat of arms appears on the arches within, had a church dedicated to Saint Basil built on St. Basil Street in Rome, not far from the Piazza Grimana, now the

Piazza Barberini Piazza Barberini is a large piazza in the ''centro storico'' or city center of Rome, Italy and situated on the Quirinal Hill. It was created in the 16th century but many of the surrounding buildings have subsequently been rebuilt. The current ...

. Attached to it was a hospice. The monks of the Order of St. Basil had it restored in 1682, as an inscription on the doorway testifies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary of Grottaferrata, Territorial Abbey of Territorial abbeys

See also

References