Country Sicily Parishes 76 Rite Roman Rite Province Province of Syracuse Cathedral Cathedral of Syracuse | Ecclesiastical province Siracusa Denomination Catholic Church Area 1,341 km² Phone +39 0931 461211 Emeritus bishop Giuseppe Costanzo | |
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Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2010)
330,000
320,000 (97%) Address Via Tintori, 96100 Siracusa SR, Italy Similar Seminario Arcivesco Maggiore, Istituto Superiore Di Scienz, Suore Figlie Della Chiesa, Suore Salesiane, Tabacchi N 27 Giochi e Servizi Vit | ||
The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Siracusa, also known as Syracuse, (Latin: Archidioecesis Syracusana) is in Sicily. It became an archdiocese in 1744. The current Archbishop is Salvatore Pappalardo. He was given the pallium by Pope Benedict in June 2009, during a Mass on the feast of the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Saints Peter and Paul. He is not to be confused with Salvatore Pappalardo, now-deceased Cardinal and Archbishop of Palermo.
Contents
History
Syracuse claimed to be the second Church founded by St. Peter, after that of Antioch. It also claims that St. Paul preached there. As its first bishop it venerates St. Marcianus, whose dates are uncertain. Little authenticity can be assigned to the list of the seventeen bishops who were predecessors of Chrestus, to whom the Emperor Constantine wrote a letter.
In the times of St. Cyprian (mid-3rd century), Christianity certainly flourished at Syracuse, and the catacombs located there attest to Christian worship there in the 2nd century. Besides its martyred bishops, Syracuse claims other Christian martyrs, such as St. Benignus and St. Evagrius (204), St. Bassianus (270); and the martyrdom of the deacon Euplus and the virgin St. Lucy under Diocletian are thought to be historical.
The names of the known bishops of the following century are few in number: Germanus (346); Eulalius (465); Agatho (553), during whose rule Pope Vigilius died at Syracuse; Maximianus and Joannes (586), who received letters from Pope Gregory I; while another bishop was denounced by Pope Honorius for the protection which he accorded to prostitutes; St. Zozimus (640), who founded the monastery of Santa Lucia fuori-le-mura; St. Elias (d. 660).
Of Marcianos II it is said that he was consecrated not at Rome, but at Syracuse, since the Emperor Leo the Isaurian (726) had removed Southern Italy from the jurisdiction of Rome, and had then elevated Syracuse to the dignity of a metropolitan see, over the thirteen other dioceses of Sicily. Stephen II (768) carried to Constantinople the relics of St. Lucy for safety against the Saracen incursions.
Archbishop Gregorios Asbestas (about 845) was deposed by St. Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and then became the principal accomplice of the schismatic Patriarch St. Photius. After Syracuse fell to the Arabs in 878, St. Sophronius, together with the monk Theodosius, was thrown into prison at Palermo where he died in a dungeon. Until the Norman Conquest the names of further bishops are not known.
The series reopens in 1093 with Bishop Rober, who received the pallium from Pope Urban II; in 1169 the Englishman Richard Palmer was also invested by papal authority. In 1188 the see became suffragan of the archdiocese of Monreale. Among the bishops of this period are:
In 1816 the diocese of Caltagirone was detached from Syracuse. The diocese of Piazza Armerina and diocese of Noto were made its suffragan sees, but the latter was detached in the same year.
Diocese of Siracusa
Erected: 2nd Century
Latin Name: Syracusanus
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Monreale