Roman Catholic Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello

Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello Dioecesis Pitilianensis-Soanensis-Urbetelliensis
File:Campanile e Facciata Duomo di Pitigliano.jpg Pitigliano Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 71,536 71,000 (99.3%)
Parishes	71
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	7th century
Cathedral	Cattedrale di SS. Pietro e Paolo (Pitigliano)
Co-cathedral	Concattedrale di SS. Pietro e Paolo (Sovana) Concattedrale di S. Maria Assunta (Orbetello)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Guglielmo Borghetti
Map
File:Italy Tuscany Diocese map Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello.svg
Website
www.diocesipitigliano.it

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Co-cathedral in Sovana (left) Co-cathedral in Orbetello (right)

The Italian Catholic Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello (Latin: Dioecesis Pitilianensis-Soanensis-Urbetelliensis) in Tuscany has existed under that name since 1986, renamed from Diocese of Sovana-Pitigliano-Orbetello. The historic name was Diocese of Sovana-Pitigliano, which was changed in 1981. The diocese is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino.

History

The two towns, Sovana and Pitigliano, are situated in the Province of Grosseto, Central Italy. Sovana was an ancient Etruscan city, and preserved a certain importance till the end of the thirteenth century, having been from the days of Charlemagne the capital of the counts of Aldobrandeschi, lords of Southern Tuscany. In 1240 the city withstood a siege by Emperor Frederick II. Later it passed under the sway of the Orsini family, who transferred their residence to Pitigliano, mentioned for the first time in 1081. In 1401 it fell into the power of the Republic of Siena. In 1434 Count Gentile Orsini having been killed at Sovana, the people of Pitigliano put the town to fire and sword, and brought about its destruction.

Its first known bishop is Mauritius (680); other bishops were:

• Raineri (963), who re-introduced common life among the canons;
• Pier Nicolò Blandinelli (1380), who had the doors of the cathedral made;
• Apollonio Massaini (1439), under whom the relics of St Mamiliano, Bishop of Palermo, were translated from the Island of Giglio;
• Alfonso Petrucci (1498), son of the Tyrant of Siena, later a cardinal, condemned to death by Pope Leo X in 1517
• his successor, Lattanzio Petrucci, accused of high treason and forced to flee, but acquitted by Pope Adrian VI;
• Carvajal Simoncelli (1535), for sixty-one years;
• Francesco Pio Santi (1776) resisted the innovations of Leopold and the Synod of Pistoia.

The territory of this diocese includes the Vallombrosan Abbey of Monte Calvello, which was transferred in 1496 to within the city limits.

Ordinaries

Diocese of Sovana

Erected: 7th Century
Latin Name: Soanensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Siena

• Adello Piccolomini (8 Oct 1492 - 1510 Died)
• Alfonso Petrucci (1 Oct 1510 - 27 Jul 1513 Resigned)
• Raffaello Petrucci (6 Feb 1520 - 11 Dec 1522 Died)
• Ercole Gonzaga (5 Jul 1529 - 17 Apr 1532 Resigned)
• Metello Bichi (15 Jan 1596 - 12 Jun 1606 Resigned)
• Octavius Saraceni (12 Jun 1606 - 1623 Died)
• Scipione Tancredi (15 Jan 1624 - 2 Mar 1637 Appointed, Bishop of Montalcino)
• Christophe Tolomei (16 Mar 1637 - 1638 Died)
• Enea di Cesare Spennazzi (20 Dec 1638 - 23 May 1644 Appointed, Bishop of Ferentino)
• Marcello Cervini (15 May 1645 - 23 Sep 1652 Appointed, Bishop of Montepulciano)
• Girolamo Borghese, O.S.B. (11 Dec 1652 - 17 Dec 1668 Appointed, Bishop of Pienza)
• Girolamo Cori (de Coris) (17 Jun 1669 - 1672 Died)
• Pier Maria Bichi, O.S.B. (12 Jun 1673 - 9 Sep 1673 Died)
• Pietro Valentini (9 Apr 1685 - Sep 1687 Died)
• Domenico Maria della Ciaja, O.P. (14 Jun 1688 - 23 Jan 1713 Died)
• Fulvio Salvi (11 Dec 1713 - 23 May 1727 Died)
• Cristoforo Palmieri (8 Mar 1728 - 26 Mar 1739 Died)
• Antonio Vegni (16 Nov 1739 - 15 Aug 1744 Died)
• Nicolaus (Arcangelo) Bianchini, O.C.D. (28 Nov 1746 - 22 May 1750 Died)
• Segherio Felice Seghieri (19 Jul 1751 - 27 Jul 1758 Died)
• Tiberio Borghesi (29 Mar 1762 - 1 Jun 1772 Appointed, Archbishop of Siena)
• Gregorio Alessandri (14 Jun 1773 - 20 May 1776 Appointed, Bishop of Cortona)
• Francesco Pio Santi (16 Sep 1776 - 16 Aug 1789 Died)
• Filippo Ghighi (20 Sep 1802 - 10 Jan 1830 Died)
• Giacomo Bellucci (30 Sep 1831 - 1 Nov 1831 Died)
• Francesco Maria Barzellotti (2 Jul 1832 - 15 Aug 1861 Died)

Diocese of Sovana e Pitigliano

Name Changed: 1844
Latin Name: Soanensis et Pitilianensis Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Siena

• Antonio Sbrolli (27 Oct 1871 - Jul 1885 Resigned)
• Giulio Matteoli (11 Feb 1889 - 22 Jun 1896 Appointed, Bishop of Pescia)
• Michele Cardella, C.P. (30 Nov 1896 - 6 Feb 1916 Died)
• Riccardo Carlesi (8 Jul 1916 - 23 May 1923 Appointed, Bishop of Cortona)
• Gustavo Matteoni (29 Apr 1924 - 3 Mar 1932 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Siena)
• Stanislao Amilcare Battistelli, C.P. (24 Jun 1932 - 14 Feb 1952 Appointed, Bishop of Teramo e Atri)
• Pacifico Giulio Vanni, O.F.M. (10 May 1952 - 13 Jul 1963 Resigned)
• Luigi Pirelli (14 Aug 1963 - 14 Aug 1964 Died)
• Giovanni D’Ascenzi (7 Oct 1975 - 11 Apr 1983 Appointed, Bishop of Arezzo)

Diocese of Sovana-Pitigliano-Orbetello

Name Changed: 25 March 1981
Latin Name: Soanensis-Pitilianensis-Urbetelliensis

• Eugenio Binini (3 Dec 1983 - 20 Jul 1991 Appointed, Bishop of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli)
• Giacomo Babini (7 Dec 1991 - 13 Jul 1996 Appointed, Bishop of Grosseto)
• Mario Meini (13 Jul 1996 - 13 Feb 2010 Appointed, Bishop of Fiesole)
• Guglielmo Borghetti (25 Jun 2010 - 10 Jan 2015 Appointed, Coadjutor Bishop of Albenga-Imperia)
• Giovanni Roncari, O.F.M. Cap. (1 Oct 2015 - )

References

• Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia (Venice, 1857)

External links

• Source

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