Roman Catholic Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti

The Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti (Latin: Dioecesis Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Apulia, southern Italy, 40 km (25 miles) south-west of the coastal city of Bari. In 1986. the territorial prelature of Altamura e Acquaviva delle Fonti was united with the diocese of Gravina. The present diocese is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto.^[1][2]

Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti Dioecesis Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis
Cathedral in Altamura
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Bari-Bitonto
Statistics
Area	1,309 km2 (505 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2020) 169,730 (est.) 165,730 (guess) (98.8%)
Parishes	40
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1248
Cathedral	Cattedrale di S. Maria Assunta
Co-cathedral	Basilica Concattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta Concattedrale di S. Eustachio
Secular priests	65 (diocesan) 24 (Religious Orders) 11 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Mario Paciello
Map
www.diocesidialtamura.it

The seat of the bishop is at Altamura Cathedral, with Acquaviva Cathedral and Gravina Cathedral as co-cathedrals.^[3]

History

Altamura

Altamura was once a territorial prelature, founded in 1232 and endowed by the Emperor Frederick II, who declared it to be free and exempt from all episcopal jurisdiction.^[4] It was governed by an archpriest. It was declared exempt from episcopal jurisdiction by Pope Innocent IV in 1248, and again by Pope Innocent VIII (1484–92).

The Chapter of the major church of the territorial prelature of Altamura was composed of four dignities (the Archdeacon, the Cantor, the Primicerius, and the Treasurer) and twenty-four Canons, who had the right to use the cappa magna and rochet.^[5]

Acquaviva

Acquaviva delle Fonti, a town of the Campagna, was declared similarly exempt by Pope Pius IX and united with Altamura on 17 August 1848.^[6]

Diocesan Reorganization

Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,^[7] It also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures. Pope Paul VI ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy, beginning with consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned.

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 diocese of Gravina be merged with the territorial prelatures of Altamura and of Aquaviva into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavivensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Altamura, where the prelatial church was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedral in Gravina and the prelatial seat in Aquaviva were to have the honorary titles of "co-cathedral"; the Chapters were each to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Altamura, 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 diocese and territorial prelatures. To make the territories of the new diocese congruent, the town of San Teramo in Colle was detached from the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto and added to that of Altamura. The new diocese was made a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto.^[8]

Prelates and Bishops

Territorial Prelature of Altamura

Erected: 1248
Latin Name: Altamurensis

• Riccardo of Brindisi^[9]
• Niccolò Barbara (1250 - 1262)
• Giovanni Correnti (1262 - 1264)
• Palmiro De Viana (1265 - 1266)
• Niccolò Catamarra (1270 - 1274)
• Giovanni (1275 - 1278 resigned)
• Guglielmo De Corbolio (21 ottobre 1279 - 1280 resigned)
• Pietro De Lusarchiis (1280 - 1284)
• Roberto De Lusarchiis (30 dicembre 1284 - 1285 resigned)
• Giovanni II (1285 dimesso)
• Giovanni III (1285 - 1292 resigned)
• Dionigi Juppart (26 aprile 1293 - 1295)
• Guglielmo De Venza (1295 resigned)
• Pietro de Moreriis (1296 – c. 1308?)^[10]
• Umberto De Montauro (1308 - 1313)
• Rostaino di Candole (1313 - 1328)
• Humfredo (1328 - 1329)
• Pietro De Moreriis (1329 - 1335 resigned)
• Giovanni De Moreriis (1336 - 1350)
• Dionigi De Merlino (1350 - 1366)
• Guglielmo Gallo (1367 - ?)
• Pietro D'Anfilia (1394 - 1399)
• Antonio Berleth (1400 - 1420)
• Antonio Della Rocca (1420 - 1442)
• Pietro Di Gargano (1442 - 1464)
• Antonio D'Ajello (1464 - 1472)^[11]

Antonio del Giudice (De Pirro) (1472 - 1477) Royal Administrator^[12]

• Pietro Miguel (1477 -1477 resigned)
• Francesco Rossi (1477 - 1527)
• Fabio Pignatelli (29 luglio 1528 - circa febbraio 1529 resigned)*
• Niccolò Sapio (2 febbraio 1529 - 1548)
• Vincenzo Salazar (1550 - 1557 resigned)
• Vincenzo Palagano (1557 - 1579)
• Maurizio Moles (1579 - 1580 resigned)
• Giulio Moles (1580 - 1586 resigned)
• Girolamo De Mari (1586 - 1624)^[13]

Sede vacante (1624-1627)

• Rodrigo D'Anaja e Guevara (1627 - 1635)

Sede vacante (1635-1640)

• Alessandro Effrem (1640 - 1644)

Sede vacante (1644-1649)

• Giovanni Montero Olivares (1649 - 1656)^[14]
• Giuseppe Cavalliere (1656 - 1664)^[15]
• Pietro Magri (1664 - 1688)
• Nicola Abrusci (1689 -1698)
• Baldassarre De Lerma (1699 - 1717)
• Michele Orsi (1718 - 1722)^[16]
• Damiano Poloù (1724 - 1727)^[17]
• Antonio De Rinaldis (1727 - 1746)^[18]
• Marcello Papiniano Cusano (1747 - 1753)^[19]
• Giuseppe Mastrilli (1753 - 1761 resigned)
• Bruno Angrisani (1761 - 1775)
• Celestino Guidotti (1775 - 1783)
• Gioacchino de Gemmis (1783 - 1818)^[20]
• Federico Guarini, O.S.B. (1818 - 1828)^[21]

Cassiodoro Margarita (1828 - 17 August 1842 resigned) Royal administrator

• Giandomenico Falcone (1 June 1842 – 10 July 1858 – 24 December 1862)^[22]

Sede Vacante (24 December 1862 – 28 August 1879)

• Luigi Marcello Pellegrini (1879–1894 Died)^[23]
• Carlo Caputo (1897–1904 Appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Germany)
• Tommaso Cirielli (1899–1902 Died)^[24]
• Carlo Giuseppe Cecchini, O.P. (1904–1909 Appointed Archbishop of Taranto)
• Adolfo Verrienti (1910–1929 Resigned)
• Domenico Dell'Aquila (1932–1942 Died)
• Giuseppe Della Cioppa (1943–1947 Appointed Bishop of Alife)

Territorial Prelature of Altamura ed Acquaviva delle Fonti

Name Changed: 17 August 1848
Latin Name: Altamurensis et Aquavievensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Bari-Canosa

• Salvatore Rotolo, S.D.B. (1948–1962 Retired)
• Antonio D'Erchia (1962–1964 Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Conversano)
• Salvatore Isgró (1975–1982 Appointed Archbishop of Sassari)
• Tarcisio Pisani, O.M. (1982–1986 Appointed Bishop of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti)

Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti

30 September 1986: United with the Diocese of Gravina
Latin Name: Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis

• Tarcisio Pisani, O.M. (30 Sep 1986-1994)
• Agostino Superbo (1994–1997 Resigned)
• Mario Paciello (1997–2013 Retired)
• Giovanni Ricchiuti (2013– )

See also

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Gravina-Montepeloso

References

1. "Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
2. "Diocese of Altamura–Gravina–Acquaviva delle Fonti, Italy". GCatholic. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
3. https://www.diocesidialtamura.it/Agenda%20Pastorale.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
4. D'Avino, p. 748, note 1: "Eandem Ecclesiam liberam et exemptam ab omni jurisdictione episcopatus vel archiepiscopatus cujuslibet; ita quod nulli Episcopo vel Archiepiscopo sit subdita praeter Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae quae caput est omnium Ecclesiarum, et nobis qui eamdem Ecclesiam in honorem B. V. edificari fecimus liberam et immunem .... collatione praedicti archipresbiteratus nobis et successoribus nostri perpetuo reservata."
5. Giaconella, p. 125.
6. Collezione degli atti emanati dopo la pubblicazione del Concordato dell'anno 1818, Vol. 12 (Napoli: Stamperia dell'Iride, 1852), pp. 48-74, at p. 59: "Quocirca Altamurensem et Aquavivensem respective Ecclesias antedictas Apostolica Auctoritate prasedicta ita in perpetuum ac aeque principaliter unimus, ut ab unico utriusque insimul Ecclesiae Archipresbytero obtineantur...." "Catholic Encyclopedia article". Archived from the original on 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
7. 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.
8. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 716-718.
9. Michele Santoro, in: Giaconella, p. 122: "Dal sudetto Federico fù costituito il primo Rettore, ed Arciprete nella persona di Riccardo da Brundesio, da dove principiò la Chiesa ad avere l’Arciprete nominato dal Re, merce una bolla di Innocenzio VIII.
10. Pietro de Angeriaco was appointed by Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples 1285–1309) in 1296. Charles II had successfully petitioned Pope Boniface VIII to unite the two offices of Treasurer of S. Nicholas in Bari and Archpriest of Altamura. Antonio Beatillo (1703). Historia della vita, miracoli, traslatione, e gloria dell'illustrissimo confessore di Christo San Nicolò il Magno Arcivescovo di Mira (in Italian). Roma: Pietro Olivieri. p. 460. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26. Serena, pp. 330-331.
11. On 6 November 1472, D'Ajello was named archbishop of Bari.
12. On 31 January 1477, Del Giudice was named bishop of Castellaneta.
13. Giovanni Geronimo de Mari: Bartolomeo Chioccarelli (1721). Archivio della reggia giurisdizione del regno di Napoli, ristretto in indice compendioso ... (in Italian). Vinezia. pp. 26–34, 132–134. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
14. In 1656, Olivares was named Prior of San Nicola in Bari.
15. On 9 June 1664, Cavalliere was named bishop of Monopoli.
16. On 2 March 1722, Orsi was named archbishop of Otranto.
17. On 25 June 1727, Poloù was named archbishop of Reggio Calabria.
18. Rinaldi was a native of Terra di Fellino, Provincia d’Otranto. Giaconalla, p. 133.
19. Cusano was born in the village of Trasco (diocese of S. Agatha Gothorum in 1690. He became a priest in 1713. From 1735 to 1747, he was professor of civil law at the University of Naples. He was nominated bishop of Otranto by King of Naples on 11 December 1752, and confirmed by Pope Benedict XIV on 12 March. He was consecrated a bishop in Rome on 18 March 1753. He was transferred to the archdiocese of Palermo on 11 February 1754. Ritzler & Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 238 with note 2.
20. On 26 June 1818, De Gemmis was named bishop of Melfi e Rapolla.
21. On 23 June 1828, Guarini was named bishop of Venosa.
22. Canon Falcone had been Vicar General of Molfetta before being named Archpriest of Acquaviva on 1 June 1842 by King Ferdinand II of Naples. Michele Garruba (1844). Serie critica de sacri pastori Baresi, corr. accresciuta ed ill (in Italian). Bari: Cannone. pp. 711–712. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26. To this was added the office of Archpriest of Altamura on 16 October 1858: Almanacco reale del regno delle Due Sicilie (in Italian). Napoli: Stamperia Reale. 1854. p. 176. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26. On 10 July 1858 Falcone was named titular Bishop of Eumeneia: La civiltà cattolica: pubblicazione periodica per tutta l'Italia. Terza serie (in Italian). Vol. 11. Roma: Uffizio della civilta cattolica. 1858. p. 229. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26. Serena, p. 334.
23. In May 1881 Pellegrini was appointed titular Bishop of Troas (Turkey). Serena, p. 334.
24. Cirelli was appointed titular Bishop of Proconessos on 22 June 1899. He died on 26 February 1902. Serena, p. 334.

Books

• Ciccimarra, Nicola (1964). La Cattedrale di Altamura: monumento di vita, di fede, di arte (in Italian). Altamura: Cressati.
• Cordasco, Pasquale, ed. (1994). Le pergamene della cattedrale di Altamura (1309-1381) (in Italian and Latin). Bari: Società di storia patria per la Puglia.
• D'Avino, Vincenzo (1848). Cenni storici sulle chiese arcivescovili, vescovili, e prelatizie (nulluis) del Regno delle Due Sicilie (in Italian). Napoli: Ranucci. pp. 748–749.
• Giaconella, Francesco (2020), "L’inedita cronaca di Altamura di Michele Santoro," Altamura: Rivista storica no. 61 (Altamura: Archivio-Biblioteca-Museo Civico, Altamura 2020), pp. 115–138, at p. 123.
• Giannone, Pietro (1821). Istoria civile del regno di Napoli (in Italian). Vol. quinto (5). Milano: Nicolò Bettoni. pp. 454–459.
• Giustiniani, Lorenzo (1797). Dizionario geografico ragionato del Regno di Napoli (in Italian). Vol. Tom. I. Napoli: Vincenzo Manfredi. pp. 125–136.
• Lucarelli A. (1904), Notizie e documenti riguardanti la storia di Acquaviva delle Fonti, (in Italian), Vol. I, Giovinazzo, 1904.
• Serena, Ottavio (1902). "La chiesa di Altamura, la serie dei suoi prelati e le sue iscrizioni", in: Rassegna pugliese di scienze lettere ed arti 19, nos. 11-12 (1902), pp. 322–337.

Co-cathedrals: Gravina Cathedral (left), and Acquaviva Cathedral (right)

40.8167°N 16.5500°E / 40.8167; 16.5500