Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vercelli

Archdiocese of Vercelli
Archidioecesis Vercellensis

Vercelli Cathedral
Location
Country Italy
Ecclesiastical province Vercelli
Statistics
Area 1,658 km2 (640 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2012)
179,800
174,200 (96.9%)
Parishes 117
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 3rd century
Cathedral Cattedrale-Basilica di S. Eusebio
Secular priests 87 (diocesan)
16 (Religious Orders)
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Archbishop Rev. Msgr. Marco Arnolfo, Archbishop-elect (has not received archiepiscopal ordination)[1]
Emeritus Bishops Enrico Masseroni
Map
Website
www.arcidiocesi.vc.it

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.[2][3]

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).


Bishops

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.[4] In 2012, there was one priest for every 1,691 Catholics.

Lombardy

Province of Pavia

Candia Lomellina
S. Maria delle Grazie
Castelnovetto
S. Maria delle Grazie
Confienza
S. Lorenzo
Cozzo
Santi Vittorino Pietro e Michele
Langosco
S. Martino
Palestro
S. Martino
Robbio
S. Stefano

Piedmont

Province of Alessandria

Morano sul Po
S. Nicola (Pobietto)

Province of Biella

Ailoche
S. Bernardo
Brusnengo
Santi Pietro e Paolo
S. Bernardo (Caraceto)
Caprile
S. Carlo
Castelletto Cervo
Santi Pietro, Paolo e Tommaso
Crevacuore
Beata Vergine Assunta
Curino
S. Maria e Santi Martino Bonomio e Nicolao
Masserano
SS. Annunziata
Santi Orso e Antonino (Rongio Inferiore)
Pray
S. Ambrogio (Flecchia)
S. Grato (Pianceri)
Sostegno
S. Lorenzo
S. Caterina (Casa del Bosco)
Villa del Bosco
S. Lorenzo

Province of Novara

Biandrate
S. Colombano
Casalbeltrame
S. Martino
Casaleggio Novara
S. Ambrogio
Landiona
Santi Pietro e Paolo
Recetto
S. Domenico
San Nazzaro Sesia
Santi Nazario e Celso
Vicolungo
Natività di Maria e Santi Giorgio e Martino
Vinzaglio
Beata Vergine Assunta
S. Bernardino (Torrione)

Province of Vercelli

Albano Vercellese
Beata Vergine Assunta
Arborio
S. Martino
Asigliano Vercellese
Beata Vergine Assunta
Balocco
Santi Michele e Antonio
Bianzè
S. Eusebio
Borgo Vercelli
Beata Vergine Assunta
Borgo d’Ale
S. Michele
Buronzo
S. Abbondio
Caresana
S. Matteo
Caresanablot
S. Cecilia
Casanova Elvo
S. Martino
Cigliano
S. Emiliano
Collobiano
Beata Vergine del Rosario e S. Giorgio
Costanzana
S. Martino
Crescentino
Beata Vergine Assunta
Santi Genuario e Silvestro (San Genuario)
S. Grisante (San Grisante)
Crova
Santi Pietro ed Eusebio
Desana
Santi Pietro e Maurizio
Fontanetto Po
S. Maria e S. Martino
Formigliana
Beata Vergine Assunta
Nostra Signora del Sacratissimo Rosario di Fatima
Gattinara
S. Bernardo
S. Francesco
S. Maria del Rosario
S. Marta
S. Pietro
Santuario di S. Maria di Rado
Ghislarengo
Beata Vergine Assunta
Greggio
Santi Quirico e Giulitta
Guardabosone
S. Agata
Lamporo
S. Bernardo
Lenta
S. Pietro
Lignana
SS. Salvatore e Santi Germano e Cristoforo
Livorno Ferraris
S. Lorenzo
Santi Rocco e Giovanni Battista (Castell’Apertole)
S. Giacomo (San Giacomo)
Lozzolo
S. Giorgio
Moncrivello
S. Eusebio
Motta de’ Conti
SS. Annunziata
Olcenengo
Santi Quirico e Giulitta
Oldenico
S. Lorenzo
Palazzolo Vercellese
S. Germano
Pertengo
S. Germano
Pezzana
S. Eusebio
Postua
Beata Vergine Assunta
Prarolo
Beata Vergine Assunta
Quinto Vercellese
Santi Nazario e Celso
Rive
Beata Vergine Assunta
Roasio
S. Maria
Santi Maurizio e Rocco
S. Giorgio (San Giorgio)
S. Eusebio (Sant’Eusebio)
Ronsecco
S. Lorenzo
Rovasenda
Maria SS. Assunta
Salasco
Beata Vergine Assunta e S. Giacomo
Sali Vercellese
Santi Desiderio Giacomo e Clemente
Saluggia
S. Antonino
S. Grato
San Germano Vercellese
S. Germano
San Giacomo Vercellese
S. Giacomo
Santhià
Santi Agata e Giorgio
Serravalle Sesia
S. Giovanni Battista
Beata Vergine Assunta (Bornate Sesia)
Santi Eusebio e Giacomo (Vintebbio)
Stroppiana
S. Michele
Tricerro
S. Giorgio
Trino
S. Bartolomeo
Beata Vergine Assunta (Lucedio)
Beata Vergine Assunta (Robella)
Tronzano Vercellese
Santi Pietro e Paolo
Santi Grato e Valentino (Salomino)
Vercelli
Beata Vergine di Lourdes
Regina Pacis
S. Agnese in S. Francesco
S. Antonio Da Padova
S. Bernardo
S. Eusebio
S. Giacomo in S. Cristoforo
S. Giuseppe
S. Maria Maddalena
S. Maria Maggiore
S. Pietro
Sacro Cuore di Gesù
Santi Tommaso e Teonesto in S. Paolo
Spirito Santo
SS. Salvatore
Beata Vergine Assunta (Cappuccini)
Beata Vergine Assunta (Larizzate)
Villarboit
S. Marco
Santi Pietro e Paolo

References

  1. ↑ http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/02/27/0144/00309.html
  2. ↑ "Archdiocese of Vercelli" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  3. ↑ "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vercelli" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  4. ↑ Source: Parishes of the diocese of Vercelli (retrieved:2016-10-02)

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. 

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