Denomination Roman Catholic Established 4th Century Phone +39 035 278111 | Parishes 389 Area 4,243 km² | |
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Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2015)995,323930,000 (est.) (96.3%) Address Piazza Duomo, 5, 24129 Bergamo BG, Italy | ||
The Diocese of Bergamo (Latin: Dioecesis Bergomensis) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan. It was founded in the fourth century AD, and its first bishop was Saint Narno, who was succeeded by Viator.
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Patron saint
August 26 is the feast day of Bergamo's patron, Saint Alexander, who is believed to have been a Roman centurion of the Theban legion imprisoned for his Christian beliefs. He escaped, was recaptured, and was executed as a martyr around 297 AD. There is a church, San Alessandro da Bergamo, had been dedicated to him since the earliest days of the diocese. It is currently administered by Benedictine priests.
Parishes
The 390 parishes all fall within the Lombardy region. 375 are within the civil Province of Bergamo, 14 in the civil Province of Lecco, and one in the civil Province of Brescia. In the diocese of Bergamo in 2015 there was one priest for every 1,010 Catholics.
Liturgical Rite
An unusual feature of diocesan life is that for historical reasons a number of the parishes in the diocese, even if a minority, celebrate the liturgy not according to the Roman Rite, but according to the Ambrosian Rite. The areas in question are the vicariate of Calolzio-Caprino (Calolziocorte, Caprino Bergamasco, Carenno, Cisano Bergamasco, Erve, Monte Marenzo, Torre de' Busi and Vercurago) and the parishes of Averara, Brumano, Cassiglio, Cusio, Ornica, Santa Brigida, Taleggio, Valtorta and Vedeseta.
Bishops
Missionary activities
The diocese maintains strong relations with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cochabamba in Bolivia. Priests of the diocese work in parishes in Cuba and Côte d'Ivoire
Diocesan synod
In 2007, the diocese opened its 37th Diocesan Synod, a gathering dedicated to problems and opportunities confronting parishes in the twenty-first century.