Roman Catholic Diocese of Marsico Nuovo

The diocese of Marsico Nuovo was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Basilicata, southern Italy, which existed until 1818. It was a suffragan of the archbishops of Salerno. In 1818, Marsico Nuovo was united aeque principaliter^[1] with the diocese of Potenza, to form the diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza.^[2][3]

History

Marsico Nuovo is a city of the province of Potenza in Southern Italy. Its origin is obscure, but the ancient Grumentum was destroyed by the Saracens.^[4]

It is said that a Saint Laberius or Saverius first preached the Gospel there.^[5] In the story of Laberius appears the name of a Bishop Sempronius Atto; both are inventions.^[6] An attested bishop of Grumentum is Tullianus (c. 558-560).^[7] In a letter of July 599, Pope Gregory I orders Romanus, his Defensor Siciliae, to intervene in a squabble between two men "in parochia Grumentina."^[8]

Transfer of episcopal residence

The town of Marsico Nuovo grew in importance, and became under the Normans the seat of a county. It became an episcopal see, dioecesis Marsicensis, when a bishop of Grumentum established his residence there, retaining, however, his former title. A number of bishops had formerly been assigned to Marsico Nuovo in the Lombard period who actually belonged to the diocese of the Marsi;^[9] the confusion persists even beyond that period.^[10]

Marsico Nuovo appears as a diocese in a papal document of 24 March 1058, in which Pope Stephen IX confirmed the diocese of Salerno in its archiepiscopal and metropolitan status. He listed the suffragan dioceses assigned to Salerno, including Marsico.^[11]

In 1744, the city of Marsico Nuovo had a population of c. 4,000 persons. In addition to the cathedral, there were four parish churches, two religious houses of men, and one of women.^[12] The monastery of S. Stephen Protomartyr had been founded inside the city; the monastery of S. Peter Tramutulae had been founded in 1150 by the monk Giovanni from the monastery of Cava (who later became Bishop of Marsico); and the monastery of S. Thomas of Canterbury at Raya had been founded by Count William of the Marsi in 1179.^[13]

Post-Napoleonic consolidation

On 27 June 1818, the diocese of Potenza was united with the Diocese of Marsico Nuovo aeque principaliter, to form Diocese of Potenza e Marsico Nuovo. Potenza was made a suffragan of the archdiocese of Acerenza, along with Anglona e Tursi, Tricarico, and Venosa.^[14]

Post-Vatican-II changes

Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,^[15] Pope Paul VI ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy. The decree "Eo quod spirituales" of 12 September 1976 created a new episcopal conference in the region called "Basilicata", to which were assigned all of the dioceses that belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Potenza, including Materana and Mons Pelusii; they had formerly belonged to the episcopal conference of "Apulia".^[16] Pope Paul VI ordered consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned. After twenty years, problems and objections were still apparent.

On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. The Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese.

On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Potenza, Marsico Nuovo, and Muro Lucano be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Archidioecesis Potentina-Murana-Marsicensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Potenza, and the cathedral of Potenza was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedrals in Marsico Nuovo and Muro Lucano were to become co-cathedrals, and their cathedral Chapters were each to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Potenza, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the suppressed dioceses of Marsico Nuovo and Muro Lucano.^[17]

Bishops of Marsico Nuovo

to 1450

[Grimaldus]^[18]

...

• Gisulf (attested 1089)^[19]
• Giovanni, O.S.B. (attested 1095–1098)^[20]

...

• Leo (attested 1123)^[21]
• Enrico (attested 1130)^[22]

...

• Giovanni (attested 1144–1155)^[23]
• Giovanni (attested 1163–1166)^[24]

...

• Joannes (attested 1189–c. 1200)^[25]
• Anselm (attested 1210)
• Rogerius (attested 1222)^[26]
• Odericus (Oderisius) (1234–1242)
• Joannes
• Reginaldus de Leontini, O.P. ( –1274)^[27]
• Rainaldus de Piperno, O.P. (1275)^[28]
• Giovanni de Vetere (attested 1287)^[29]
• Matthaeus
• Giovanni Acuto
• Rogerius
• Petrus de Lupico, O.P. (1328– ? )
• Rogerius
• Bartholomaeus (1349–
• Pietro Corsario (1375–1378)
• Thomas Sferrato, O.Min. (1378–1384 deposed) Roman Obedience
• Jacobus de Padula (1384– ) Avignon Obediewnce
• Andreas ( ? –1399) Roman Obedience
• Marcus (1399–1400 deposed) Avignon Obedience^[30]
• Petrus (1400)
• Nardellus (Leonardus) da Gaeta, O.Min (1400–1440)^[31]
• Carletus (1440-1453)^[32]

1450 to 1818

• Leonardo da Gaeta (1453–1456)^[33]
• Petrus de Diano (1456–1458)^[34]
• Andreas (1458-1460)^[35]
• Samson de Coyano (1460–1478)^[36]
• Giovanni Antonio Pitito, O.F.M. Conv. (25 Jul 1478 – 1483 Died)
• Nicola Angelo de Abbatissa (1483–1484 Died)
• Antonio de'Medici, O.F.M. (1484–1485 Died)^[37]
• Fabrizio Guarna (1485–1494 Died)
• Ottaviano Caracciolo (19 Mar 1494 – 1535 Died)
• Vincenzo Boccaferro, O.S.B. (1536–1537)^[38]
• Angelo Archilegi (1537–1541)^[39]
• Marzio Marzi Medici (1541–1574)^[40]
• Angelo Marzi Medici (15 Oct 1574 – 1582 Died)^[41]
• Jean Louis Pallavicino di Ceva (1583)^[42]
• Antonio Fera, O.F.M. Conv. (9 Apr 1584 – 24 Apr 1600 Died)^[43]
• Ascanio Parisi (24 Apr 1600 Succeeded – 1614)^[44]
• Timoteo Castelli, O.P. (21 Jul 1614 – 23 Nov 1639 Died)^[45]
• Giuseppe Ciantes, O.P. (5 Mar 1640 – Jan 1656 Resigned)^[46]
• Angelo Pineri (26 Jun 1656 – 22 Jul 1671 Died)^[47]
• Giovanni Battista Falvo (16 Nov 1671 – 1 Jan 1676 Died)^[48]
• Giovanni Gambacorta, C.R. (23 Mar 1676 – 25 May 1683 Died)
• Francesco Antonio Leopardi (27 Sep 1683 – 1 Oct 1685 Appointed, Bishop of Tricarico)
• Domenico Lucchetti (1 Apr 1686 – Feb 1707 Died)
• Donato Ansani (19 May 1710 – 9 Jul 1732 Died)
• Alessandro Puoti (1 Oct 1732 – 3 Aug 1744 Died)^[49]
• Diego Andrea Tomacelli (7 Sep 1744 – 24 Aug 1766 Died)
• Andrea Tortora (1 Dec 1766 – 10 May 1771 Died)
• Carlo Nicodemi (29 Jul 1771 – 26 Mar 1792 Confirmed, Bishop of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi e Bisaccia)
• Bernardo Maria della Torre (26 Mar 1792 Confirmed – 18 Dec 1797 Confirmed, Bishop of Lettere-Gragnano))
• Paolo Garzillo (18 Dec 1797 Confirmed – 2 Oct 1818 Confirmed, Bishop of Bovino)

27 June 1818: United with the Diocese of Potenza to form the Diocese of Potenza e Marsico Nuovo

See also

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia

References

1. union of two dioceses kept separate, but under the rule of one and the same bishop
2. Cheney, David M. "Diocese of Marsico Nuovo". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. ^{[self-published]}
3. Chow, Gabriel. "Diocese of Marsico Nuovo (Italy)". GCatholic.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. ^{[self-published]}
4. Cappelletti XX, pp. 381-383.
5. Benigni, Umberto (1910). "Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. p. 324, indicating that the earliest reference is in the mid-twelfth century
6. Sempronius is rejected by Lanzoni, p. 324: "tarda e favolosa fonte." Kehr VIII, p. 373, also rejects Laberius and Sempronius: "moderni interpolatoris leves sunt inventiones." Giacomo Racioppi (1881), Fonti della storia basilicatese al medio evo. L'agiografia di san Laveri del MCLXII, (in Italian) (Roma: G. Barbèra), esp. pp. 7-12.
7. Lanzoni, p. 325. Kehr VIII, p. 375, no. 4.
8. Philippus Jaffè (1885), Regesta pontificum Romanorum Volume I, second edition (Leipzig: Veit), p. 197, no. 1737.
9. Servanzi-Collio, pp. 21-22. Kehr VIII, pp. 373-374.
10. e.g. Eubel I, p. 328, note 2, a bishop Bernardus of the Marsi, not Marsico.
11. Kehr, p. 373. Pflugk-Haartung (1884), Acta pontificum Romanorum inedita Volume 2 (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer), pp. 82-84, no. 116: "Ad haec licentiam et potestatem tuae fraternitati damus cum clero et populo, secundum sanctorum canonum statuta eligendi episcopos et ordinandi in subjectis tibi locis secundum Romanorum pontificium privilegia, hoc est, in Pestanensi civitate, et in civitate Consana, et in civitate Acerenina, et in Nolana, quoque et Cusenta, nec non et in Visinianensi, et in Malvito et in Policastro et in Marsico et in Martirano et Caciano, cum omnibus parrochiis et adiacentiis eorum."
12. Ritzler and Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 278, note 1.
13. Ughelli VII, pp. 501, 508. Kehr VIII, pp. 375-376.
14. Torelli, pp. 117-118, § 6. Bullarii Romani continuatio, Summorum Pontificum Clementis XIII, Clementis XIV, Pii VI, Pii VII, Leonis XII Gregorii XVI constitutiones... (in Latin). Vol. Tomus decimus quintus (15). Rome: typographia Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae. 1853. p. 57 § 9.
15. Christus Dominus 40. Therefore, in order to accomplish these aims this sacred synod decrees as follows: 1) The boundaries of ecclesiastical provinces are to be submitted to an early review and the rights and privileges of metropolitans are to be defined by new and suitable norms. 2) As a general rule all dioceses and other territorial divisions that are by law equivalent to dioceses should be attached to an ecclesiastical province. Therefore dioceses which are now directly subject to the Apostolic See and which are not united to any other are either to be brought together to form a new ecclesiastical province, if that be possible, or else attached to that province which is nearer or more convenient. They are to be made subject to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the bishop, in keeping with the norms of the common law. 3) Wherever advantageous, ecclesiastical provinces should be grouped into ecclesiastical regions for the structure of which juridical provision is to be made.
16. The bull Eo quod spirituales (in Latin), in: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 68 (1976), pp. 678-680.
17. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 764-766.
18. Ughelli VII, p. 497, found only in a story of the transferral of relics. Grimaldus is rejected by Lanzoni, p. 326, as another hagiographical invention without any sort of support.
19. Kehr VIII, p. 374.
20. Giovanni was a monk of the Benedictine congregation of Montecassino. In 1095 he signed a document: "ego Joannes episcopus civitatis Marsensis (sic) sedis Grumentine." He is referred to in a document of December 1097 as: "domno Joanne venerabilis episcopus sante sedis Grumentine de civitate Marsico." Racioppi, pp. 154, 156. Mattei-Cerasoli (1919), p. 313.
21. Leo signs himself, "Ego Leo, Dei gratia Grumentinae sedis Pontifex" and "Ego Leo Grumentinus Episcopus". He was one of four bishops appointed by Pope Calixtus II in 1123 to oversee the process of the canonization of S.Gerardo of Potenza. Servanzi-Collio (1867), p. 24, no xi. Cappelletti XX, pp. 385-386.
22. Henricus completed the original cathedral in the city of Marsico Nuovo, finally replacing the one destroyed by the Saracens. The dedicatory inscription is dated MCXXXI. Cappelletti XX, p. 386. Mattei-Cerasoli (1919), p. 314.
23. In a grant of 1144 to the monastery of Cava, Bishop Joannes is referred to as: "Nos Johannes gratia Dei Grumentane (sic) sedis episcopus," and he subscribes: "Ego Johannes Marsicanus episcopus." Racioppi, p. 157. Servanzi-Collio (1867), p. 24, no. XIII.
24. In May 1163, he is referred to in a document of the archbishop of Salerno (Racioppi, p. 149) as: "Existentibus etiam ibidem Joanne venerabili marsicano episcopo suffraganeo ipsius domini archiepiscopi, Saulo archipresbitero ecclesie Saponarie, et quibusdam aliis de presbiteris ipsius ecclesie Saponarie, que marsicano episcopatui subjecta est." He subscribes a document: "Ego Johannes tercius huius nominis Marsicanus episcopus concessi et ordinavi." Mattei-Cerasoli (1919), pp. 314-315.
25. Johannes (IV) is referred to in a document of King William II (Racioppi, p. 147): "concedo et offero ecclesiæ S. Antonini de Saponaria, in manibus domini Joannis v(enerabilis) episcopi Marsicen." Eubel I, p. 328.
26. Rogerius: Servanzi-Collio (1867), p. 25, no. XVIII. Eubel I, p. 328.
27. Reginald of Leontini or Lentino was transferred by Pope Gregory X to the diocese of Messina in Sicily on 5 December 1274. Eubel I, p. 337 with note 4.
28. Rainaldus (Reginaldus) was appointed by Pope Gregory X on 22 June 1275. Eubel I, p. 328.
29. Giovanni V: Mattei-Cerasoli (1919), p. 315. Eubel I, p. 328.
30. Servanzi-Collio, p. 28, no XXXVII.
31. Nardellus: Eubel I, p. 328, with note 6.
32. Carletus had been Archdeacon of Sorrento. He was appointed bishop of Marsico by Pope Eugenius IV, and made arrangements for the payments for his bulls on 27 April 1440. Servanzi-Collio, p. 28, no XL. Eubel II, p. 186.
33. Leonardo was appointed bishop of Marsico by Pope Nicholas V. Servanzi-Collio, p. 28, no XLI. Eubel II, p. 186.
34. Pietro was a native of Naples, and held the degree Doctor in utroque iure. Servanzi-Collio, p. 29, no XLII. Eubel II, p. 186, note 1.
35. Andreas: Servanzi-Collio, p. 29, no XLIII. Eubel II, p. 186, note 1.
36. Samson was a native of Marsico Nuovo. Servanzi-Collio, p. 29, no XLIV. Eubel II, p. 186.
37. Antonio was the son of Jacopo de'Medici. A member of the Conventual Franciscans, he began to teach the "Sentences of Peter Lombard" in 1460, and in 1461 he was awarded the title of Magister and was incorporated into the University's theological faculty. He became its Dean in 1472. He served as superior in several convents of his Order, and was twice elected Provincial of the Tuscan province. On 12 July 1484, he was appointed Bishop of Marsico by Pope Sixtus IV, a fellow Franciscan. He died within a year, and was succeeded on 12 August 1485 by Fabricius Guarna. Luca Giuseppe Ceracchini, Fasti teologali ouuero notizie istoriche del collegio de' teologi della Sacra Vniuersità fiorentina dalla sua fondazione sino all'anno 1738, (in Italian) (Firenze: Ferdinando Moücke 1738), pp. 160-161. Servanzi-Collio, p. 29, no XLVII. Eubel III, p. 236
38. Boccaferro was a Bolognese patrician. When Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (Pope Paul III) had been legate in Bologna, he became friends with Boccaferro, who was then abbot of S. Michele in Bosco. He had been Abbot Visitor of his Order. He was named Bishop of Marsico by Pope Paul III in the consistory of 10 January 1536. He actually served as papal Majordomo. In April 1537, the pope game him a house. He died in Rome, and was buried in Santa Maria Nuova. Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 41 (Venice: Emiliana 1846), pp. 254-255. Servanzi-Collio, p. 30, no. L. Eubel III, p. 236 with note 3.
39. Archilegi was a privy chamberlain of Pope Paul III, and then the papal Majordomo in succession to Bishop Boccaferro. He was appointed Bishop of Marsico in the consistory of 24 September 1537. On 4 Feb 1541, Pope Paul III appointed him Bishop of Assisi, where he died on 23 May 1543. Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 41 (Venice: Emiliana 1846), p. 255. Servanzi-Collio, p. 30, no. L. Eubel III, pp. 120 with note 6; 236 with note 4.
40. Marzio Marzi was a principal secretary of the Medici family of Florence, in particular Duke Cosimo I. He was appointed Bishop of Marsico by Pope Paul III on 11 February 1541, but continued to work for the Medici. He first visited his diocese of Marsico on 1 May 1558, on the demand of his metropolitan, Girolamo Seripando of Salerno. He departed for the Council of Trent on 3 October 1561, and participated until the closing session on 4 December 1563. He then visited Venice, and undertook a stay in Tuscahy, where he resigned most of his benefices, in accordance with the decrees of the Council. He returned to Marsico early in 1565. He departed again, on a visit to Venice in 1573, where he resigned his bishopric in favor of his nephew Angelo, on 15 October 1474. He died in Venice on 11 November 1574. Eubel III, p. 236 with note 5. Vanna Arrighi, "Marzi Medici, Marzio," (in Italian), in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 71 (2008).
41. Angelo Marzi was the nephew of Bishop Marzio Marzi. Servanzi-Collio, p. 30, no LIII. Eubel III, p. 236 with note 5.
42. Pallavicini was a member of the family of the Marchesi di Ceva. He had been Bishop of Saluzzo (1581–1583). He was transferred to the diocese of Marsico on 8 August 1583. On 7 November 1583, Pope Gregory XIII appointed him Bishop of Nice. Cappelletti XX, p. 393. Servanzi-Collio, p. 30, no LIV. Eubel III, p. 236 with note 6; 290 with note 9.
43. Servanzi-Collio, p. 30, no LIV. Eubel III, p. 236.
44. Parisi died on 23 April 1614. Cappelletti XX, pp. 393-394. Eubel III, p. 236 with note 8. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 233.
45. Castelli: Gauchat, p. 233 with note 3.
46. Ciantes: Gauchat, p. 233 with note 4.
47. Pineri: Gauchat, p. 233 with note 5.
48. Falvo: Ritzler and Sefrin V, p. 258 with note 2.
49. Puoti: Ritzler and Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 278 with note 2.

Books

• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus; Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo (in Latin). Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.

Studies

• Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1870). Le chiese d'Italia: dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Vol. vigesimo (20). Venezia: G. Antonelli. pp. 379–400.
• Colangelo, G.A. (1978). La diocesi di Marsico nei secoli XVI-XVIII. (in Italian). Roma 1978.
• D'Avino, Vincenzio (1848). Cenni storici sulle chiese arcivescovili, vescovili, e prelatizie (nullius) del regno delle due Sicilie (in Italian). Naples: dalle stampe di Ranucci. pp. 541–545.
• Kamp, Norbert (1975). Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien. I. Prosopographische Grundlegung: 2. Apulien und Kalabrien. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. (in German) pp. 760–763.
• Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1935). Italia pontificia. Vol. VIII: Regnum Normannorum — Campania. Berlin: Weidmann. (in Latin) pp. 373–376.
• Lanzoni, Francesco (1927). Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604). (in Italian) Faenza: F. Lega, pp. 324–325.
• Mattei-Cerasoli, Leone (1919). "Da archivii e biblioteche: Di alcuni vescovi poco noti. (in Italian). In: Archivio storico per le province Neapolitane (Napoli: Luigi Lubrano). pp. 310–335, at 313-315.
• Racioppi, Giacomo (1881). Fonti della storia basilicatese al medio evo: l'agiografia di San Laverio del MCLXII. Roma: Tipog. di G. Barbèra, 1881
• Servanzi-Collio, Severino (1867). Serie dei vescovi delle chiese cattedrali di Potenza e di Marsico Nuovo nella Basilicata (in Italian) Roma: Tipografia delle belle arti.
• Torelli, Felice (1848). La chiave del Concordato dell'anno 1818 e degli atti emanati posteriormente al medesimo. (in Italian) Volume 1, second edition Naples: Stamperia del Fibreno, 1848.
• Ughelli, Ferdinando; Coleti, NIccolo (1720). Italia sacra sive De episcopis Italiæ, et insularum adjacentium (in Latin). Vol. Tomus sextus (6). Venice: apud Sebastianum Coleti. pp. 485–524.