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Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia Sarzana Brugnato

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Ecclesiastical province
  
Genoa

Denomination
  
Catholic Church

Established
  
465 (1552 years ago)

Phone
  
+39 0187 734424

Country
  
Italy

Parishes
  
186

Rite
  
Roman Rite

Area
  
881 km²

Province
  
Province of La Spezia

Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato

Population - Total - Catholics
  
(as of 2004) 215,935 213,451 (98.8%)

Address
  
Via Don Giovanni Minzoni, 64, 19121 La Spezia SP, Italy

The Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato (Latin: Dioecesis Spediensis-Sarzanensis-Brugnatensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Liguria, northern Italy, created in 1986. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa. The historic diocese of Luni (earlier Luna) was united to the Diocese of Sarzana in 1465, and then to the Diocese of Brugnato in 1820, to form the current diocese; its name has been changed more than once. The current bishop is Luigi Palletti who was designated to be the new ordinary by pope Benedict XVI on October 20, 2012.

Contents

History

The episcopal see of Luni dates at least from the fifth century. In the sixth century St. Terentius and St. Venantius, a friend of Gregory the Great, flourished. Under Bishop Felerandus the relic of the Blood of Christ is said to have been brought to Luni.

St. Ceccardus (892) was murdered by barbarians. When Luni was abandoned, the episcopal see was fixed at Sarzana, then at Sarzanello, and finally at Castelnuovo.

In 1202 Pope Innocent III transferred the see to Sarzana, Gualtiero being the bishop. In 1306 Dante went to Sarzana, and succeeded in settling a dispute between Bishop Antonio Camulla and the Marquess Malaspina. The poet's sojourn here inspired a few terzine of the Divine Comedy.

In 1355 Emperor Charles IV. conferred on the bishops of Luni the title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Antonio M. Parentuccelli (1495), a cousin of Pope Nicholas V, built the episcopal palace and the church of S. Maria delle Grazie. In 1787 the diocese of Pontremoli, and in 1821 the diocese of Massa Ducale were separated from Luni-Sarzana, but the diocese of Brugnato, separated from Luni by Pope Innocent II in 1133, was added in 1822. The diocese of Luni-Sarzana was directly subject to the Holy See, but Brugnato was a suffragan of Genoa.

Diocese of Luni

Erected: 465
Latin Name: Lunensis

  • Giorgio Fieschi (Flisco) (1446 - )

    • Diocese of Luni e Sarzana

    United: 21 July 1465 with the Diocese of Sarzana
    Latin Name: Lunensis et Sarzanensis
    Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa

  • Giorgio Fieschi (Flisco), (1446 Appointed - )
    • ...
  • Silvestro Benedetti (28 Apr 1497 - 1537 Died)
  • Giovanni Francesco Pogliasca (28 Nov 1537 - 1561 Died)
  • Simone Pasqua (di Negro) (14 Feb 1561 - 5 Sep 1565 Died)
  • Benedetto Lomellini (7 Sep 1565 - 17 Mar 1572 Appointed, Bishop of Anagni)
  • Giovanni Battista Bracelli (bishop) (2 Jun 1572 - 17 Apr 1590 Died)
  • Giovanni Battista Salvago (14 May 1590 - 24 Jan 1632 Died)
  • Giovanni Domenico Spinola (26 Apr 1632 - 1 Dec 1636 Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Mazara del Vallo)
  • Prospero Spínola (7 Sep 1637 - 1664 Died)
  • Giovanni Battista Spínola (22 Apr 1665 - 13 Sep 1694 Appointed, Archbishop of Genoa)
  • Giovanni Girolamo Naselli (7 Feb 1695 - Aug 1709 Died)
  • Ambrogio Spinola, B. (10 Mar 1710 - 29 Jun 1726 Resigned)
  • Giovanni Girolamo della Torre, B. (1 Jul 1726 - 21 Apr 1757 Died)
  • Giulio Cesare Lomellino, C.R. (23 May 1757 - 24 Feb 1791 Died)
  • Francesco Maria Gentile (26 Sep 1791 - 17 Sep 1795 Resigned)
  • Vincenzo Maria Maggioli, O.P. (22 Sep 1795 - 24 Sep 1804 Appointed, Bishop of Savona)
  • Giulio Cesare Pallavicini (24 Sep 1804 - 13 May 1819 Died)

    • Diocese of Luni, Sarzana e Brugnato

    United: 25 November 1820 with the Diocese of Brugnato
    Latin Name: Lunensis, Sarzanensis, et Brugnatensis
    Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa

  • Pietro Luigi Scarabelli, C.M. (2 Oct 1820 Confirmed - 26 Apr 1836 Resigned)
  • Francesco Agnini (19 May 1837 Confirmed - 8 Mar 1853 Died)
  • Giuseppe Rosati (22 Feb 1867 - 5 Sep 1881 Died)
  • Giacinto Rossi, O.P. (18 Nov 1881 - 29 Jan 1899 Died)
  • Giovanni Carli (19 Jun 1899 - 5 Jan 1921 Died)
  • Bernardo Pizzorno (7 Mar 1921 - 6 Aug 1926 Died)

    • Diocese of Luni o La Spezia, Sarzana e Brugnato

    Name Changed: 12 January 1929
    Latin Name: Lunensis o Spediensis, Sarzanensis, et Brugnatensis
    Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa

  • Giovanni Costantini (8 Feb 1929 - 26 Jul 1943 Resigned)
  • Giuseppe Stella (7 Sep 1945 - 3 Sep 1975 Retired)

    • Diocese of La Spezia, Sarzana e Brugnato

    Name Changed: 4 August 1975
    Latin Name: Spediensis, Sarzanensis, et Brugnatensis
    Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa

  • Siro Silvestri (3 Sep 1975 - 7 Dec 1989 Retired)

    • Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato

    Name Changed: 30 September 1986
    Latin Name: Spediensis-Sarzanensis-Brugnatensis
    Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa

  • Giulio Sanguineti (7 Dec 1989 - 19 Dec 1998 Appointed, Bishop of Brescia)
  • Bassano Staffieri (10 Jul 1999 - 6 Dec 2007 Retired)
  • Francesco Moraglia (6 Dec 2007 - 31 Jan 2012 Appointed, Patriarch of Venice)
  • Luigi Ernesto Palletti (20 Oct 2012 - )

    • Parishes

    The diocese has 186 parishes, all within the Province of La Spezia in Liguria.

    References

    Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA