Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto

Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto Archidioecesis Barensis-Bituntinus
File:San Sabino Ostabschluss.jpg Cathedral in Bari
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Bari-Bitonto
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 740,900 732,277 (98.8%)
Parishes	125
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4th Century
Cathedral	Cattedrale-Basilica di S. Maria
Co-cathedral	Concattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Francesco Cacucci
Website
www.arcidiocesibaribitonto.it

File:Panbitonto.png

Co-cathedral in Bitonto

The archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto (Latin: Archidioecesis Barensis-Bituntinus) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Apulia, southern Italy, created in 1986, when the historical archdiocese of Bari was united to the diocese of Bitonto.

History

The first known Bishop of Bari was Gervasius, who, in 347, was at the Council of Sardica. In 530 Bishop Peter held the title of Metropolitan under Epiphanius, Patriarch of Constantinople. In 780 Bishop Leontius was present at the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second of Nicaea.

In the ninth century the Saracens laid waste Apulia, destroyed the city of Canosa (Canusium) and captured Bari. In 841, however, the Byzantine army reconquered Bari, and in 844 Saint Angelarius, Bishop of Canosa, then in ruins, brought to Bari the relics of Saint Rufinus, Saint Memorus, and Saint Sabinus, which he had rescued from the ruins. Pope Sergius II conferred on him the title of Bishop of the two dioceses of Bari and Canosa, a title which the Archbishops of Bari retain to the present time.

In 933 Pope John XI granted the Bishops of Bari the use of the pallium. It seems that the Bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the tenth century. Giovanni II (952) was able to withdraw from this influence, refusing to accept the prescriptions of the patriarch concerning liturgical points. All connection was finally severed in the eleventh century, and Bari became a direct dependency of Rome. Archbishop Bisanzio (1025) obtained from the pope the privilege of consecrating his suffragans; he also began the construction of the new cathedral, which was continued by his successors, Nicolo (1035), Andreas (1062), and Elia (1089) of the Benedictine Order.

Andreas was the archbishop from 1062 to at least 1066, when he journeyed to Constantinople and at some point converted to Judaism. Andreas then fled to the Muslim-dominated Egypt, where he eventually died in 1078.

Remarkably, the next archbishop Urso (1080–1089) was captured by the Muslim forces and converted to Islam.

Other archbishops were:

• John the Saracen (1259), restored a tower of the cathedral damaged in an earthquake;
• Romualdo Grisoni (1280), distinguished for his restorations of churches;
• Bartolomeo Prignano (1377), later Pope Urban VI, who, however, never saw this see;
• Ascanio Gesualdo (1613), known for charity in the earthquake of 1632;
• Diego Sersale (1638), who at his own expense rebuilt the cathedral, the episcopal palace, and the seminary;
• the Dominican Tommaso Maria, of the Dukes of Bagnara (1684).

In 1097 some Bari sailors, on their return from the East, brought with them the relics of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, for which Roger, Duke of Apulia, built a church, the Basilica of San Nicola, Bari; this became the object of veneration and of pilgrimages.

In the reorganization of the dioceses of the Kingdom of Naples, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the diocese of Bitetto was suppressed and made a part of the Diocese of Bari. The suffragan sees under Bari historically were: the diocese of Conversano, diocese of Ruvo, and diocese of Bitonto.

Sufragan sees

• Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti
• Andria
• Conversano-Monopoli
• Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi
• Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie

Ordinaries

Diocese of Bari

Erected: 4th Century
Latin Name: Barensis

Archdiocese of Bari (-Canosa)

Elevated: 6th Century to Metropolitan See
Latin Name: Barensis (-Canusinus)

• Andrea de Celano (1214 - 27 Sep 1225 Died)
• Niccolò Brancaccio (12 Apr 1367 - 13 Jan 1377 Appointed, Archbishop of Cosenza)
• Bartolomeo Prignano (1377 - 8 Apr 1378 Elected, Pope)
• Landolfo Maramaldo (1378 - 1384 Resigned)
• Francesco de Aiello (1424 - 1453 Died)
• Guido Giudano, O.F.M. (1453 - 1454 Died)
• Giovanni Giacomo Castiglione (1493 - 1513 Died)
• Esteban Gabriel Merino (9 May 1513 - 2 Sep 1530 Appointed, Patriarch of the West Indies)
• Girolamo Grimaldi (2 Sep 1530 - 20 Aug 1540 Resigned)
• Girolamo Sauli (20 Aug 1540 - 18 Apr 1550 Appointed, Archbishop of Genoa)
• Giacomo Puteo (18 Apr 1550 - 16 Dec 1562 Resigned)
• Antonio Puteo (del Pozzo) (16 Dec 1562 - 14 Jul 1592 Died)
• Giulio Cesare Riccardi (30 Oct 1592 - 13 Feb 1602 Died)
• Bonviso Bonvisi (18 Mar 1602 - 1 Sep 1603 Died)
• Galeazzo Sanvitale (15 Mar 1604 - 1606 Resigned)
• Decio Caracciolo Rosso (3 Jul 1606 - 27 May 1613 Died)
• Ascanio Gesualdo (1 Jul 1613 - 27 Jan 1638 Died)
• Diego Sersale (20 Dec 1638 - 14 Jul 1665 Died)
• Giovanni Granafei (11 Oct 1666 - 18 Mar 1683 Died)
• Tommaso Marie Ruffo, O.P. (10 Apr 1684 - 30 Apr 1691 Died)
• Carlo Loffredo, C.R. (26 Nov 1691 - 10 Mar 1698 Appointed, Archbishop of Capua)
• Muzio Gaeta (Sr.) (7 Apr 1698 - 7 Mar 1728 Died)
• Mihály Karl (Michele Carlo) von Althan (20 Sep 1728 - 2 Dec 1735 Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Vác)
• Muzio Gaeta (Jr.) (19 Dec 1735 - 16 Sep 1754 Appointed, Archbishop of Capua)
• Luigi d’Alessandro (16 Sep 1754 - 28 Jan 1770 Died)
• Adelmo Gennaro Pignatelli di Belmonte, O.S.B. (28 May 1770 - 15 Dec 1777 Appointed, Archbishop of Capua)
• Giambattista Ettore Caracciolo, C.R. (1 Jun 1778 - 22 May 1780 Died)
• Gennaro Maria Guevara Suardo, O.S.B. (27 Feb 1792 Confirmed - 29 Oct 1804 Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Aversa)
• Baldassare Mormile, C.R. (26 Jun 1805 Confirmed - 6 Apr 1818 Confirmed, Archbishop of Capua)
• Nicola Coppola, C.O. (25 May 1818 Confirmed - 17 Nov 1823 Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Nola)
• Michele Basilio Clari (Clary), O.S.B.I. (17 Nov 1823 Confirmed - 15 Feb 1858 Died)
• Francesco Pedicini (27 Sep 1858 - 6 Jun 1886 Died)
• Enrico (Ernesto) Mazzella (14 Mar 1887 - 14 Oct 1897 Died)
• Giulio Vaccaro (24 Mar 1898 - 10 Mar 1924 Died)
• Pietro Pomares y Morant (16 Oct 1924 - 14 Dec 1924 Died)
• Augusto Curi (5 May 1925 - 28 Mar 1933 Died)
• Marcello Mimmi (31 Jul 1933 - 30 Aug 1952 Appointed, Archbishop of Naples)
• Enrico Nicodemo (11 Nov 1952 - 27 Aug 1973 Died)
• Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero, O.C.D. (21 Dec 1973 - 1 Aug 1977 Appointed, Archbishop of Turin)
• Andrea Mariano Magrassi, O.S.B. (24 Nov 1977 - 3 Jul 1999 Resigned)

Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto

30 September 1986 United with the Diocese of Bitonto to form the Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto
Latin Name: Barensis-Bituntinus

• Francesco Cacucci (3 Jul 1999 - )

Notes

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: