Ecclesiastical province Vercelli Denomination Catholic Church Established 3rd century Cathedral Vercelli Cathedral Archbishop Marco Arnolfo | Parishes 117 Rite Roman Rite Area 1,658 km² Country Italy Emeritus bishop Enrico Masseroni | |
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Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2012)
179,800
174,200 (96.9%) | ||
The Archdiocese of Vercelli (in Latin, Archidioecesis Vercellensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy, one of the two archdioceses which form the ecclesiastical region of Piedmont. The archbishop's seat is in Vercelli Cathedral. The dioceses suffragan to Vercelli are: Alessandria (della Paglia), Biella, Casale Monferrato and Novara.
Contents
History
According to an ancient lectionary the Gospel was first preached in Vercelli in the second half of the third century by Saints Sabinianus and Martialis, bishops from Gaul, when they were returning to their dioceses. The episcopal see was not established till after the Peace of Constantine. The first bishop was Saint Eusebius (354-370), a Sardinian, a lector of the Roman Church and a strenuous opponent of Arianism. From Vercelli the Gospel spread through the valley of the Po and its environs; towards the end of the fourth century, perhaps even during the episcopate of Saint Eusebius, new dioceses were erected. From Eusebius to Nottingo (830) there were forty bishops, whose images were preserved in the Eusebian basilica, predecessor of the present cathedral, so called because Saint Eusebius, who dedicated it to the martyr Saint Theonestus, was interred in it. He introduced the common and monastic life among his clergy, from whom bishops for the surrounding territory were often selected.
Among his successors were: Saint Simenus (370-396), who baptized and consecrated Saint Ambrose; Saint Honoratus (396), who administered the Viaticum to Saint Ambrose; Saint Justinianus (living in 451); Saint Æmilianus (about 500) built an aqueduct for the city at his own expense; Saint Flavianus (541), who decorated the apse of the original basilica; Saint Celsus (638-665); Norgaudus (844) restored common life among the canons; Liutuardus (880-899), who had been archchancellor of Charles the Fat (deposed later) and was slain during the invasion of the Hungarians (899), like Regenbertus (904- 24), even though only a bishop, Pope Anastasius III granted him the pallium for life; Atto II of Vercelli, (924- 960), son of Aimone, Count of Vercelli, reformer of ecclesiastical discipline, and chancellor for Lothair II; he ordered schools to be set up in every parish of thediocese; Petrus I (978-997) a German attached to Otto II with whom he fought the Saracens in southern Italy; defeated and enslaved, he was sent to Egypt. He returned only to be killed by Arduino, the marquess of Ivrea who hoped to be King of Italy himself; he burnt the cathedral of Vercelli and scattered those buried there; Leo I (999-1024), another German prelate who became chancellor of Holy Roman Emperors Otto III and Henry II; Anselmo Avogadro (1124-1127) the first bishop of Vercelli to also hold the title of count; Gisulfus II Avogadro (1132-1151) re-established common life among the canons in 1144;Uberto Crivelli (1182-1185) held both Vercelli and Milan at the same time, until elected Pope Urban III Saint Albert Avogadro (1185–1204), a Canon Regular at Mortara, then elected bishop of Bobbio, but translated to Vercelli; made Prince (Rechtsfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire in 1191; founder of the cathedral chair of theology, elected Patriarch of Jerusalem (1204-1214); approved the Rule of the Carmelite Order; Ugo di Sessa (1214-1235); Martino Avogadro de Quaregna (1243-1268) Rainerio Avogadro (1305-1310) originally refused his election; he opposed the partisans of Fra Dolcino; Uberto Avogadro (1310-1326); sixth and last of a long line of Avogadro count-bishops of Vercelli; Guglielmo Didier (1437), an elector of the antipope Felix V; Giuliano della Rovere (1502), later Pope Julius II (1503); Cardinal Guido Ferrero (1562-1572), founder of the seminary, embellished the cathedral and introduced the Tridentine reform; Gianfrancesco Bonomo (1572) continued the reform and replaced (1573) the Eusebian Rite by the Roman.
In 1817 the Diocese of Vercelli, then suffragan of the archbishopric of Turin (but previously of the archbishopric of Milan) was made an archdiocese, the first archbishop being Giuseppe di Grimaldi. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, Secretary of State (2006 onwards) served as archbishop of Vercelli (1991-1995).
Diocese of Vercelli
Erected: 3rd Century
Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Archdiocese of Vercelli
Elevated: 17 July 1817
Parishes
The 118 parishes are divided between the Lombard province of Pavia and the Piedmontese provinces of Alessandria, Biella, Novara and Vercelli. In 2012, there was one priest for every 1,691 Catholics.
Books
acknowledgment
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Benigni, Umberto (1912). "Vercelli". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton.