By mandate of Pope Gregory I in October 590, on the petition of Bishop Bacaudas of Formiae, the diocese of Minturno (Minturnae), which was completely destitute of both clergy and people, was added to the see of Formia, which was itself desolate, and Minturnae's income, rights, and privileges were transferred to the See of Formiae.[3] In April 597, following the death of Bishop Bacaudas, Pope Gregory appointed Bishop Agnellus of Terracina as Apostolic Visitor of Formiae, instructing him to summon the clergy and people to elect a successor, and stating that no priest from outside the diocese should be elected, unless no acceptable candidate could be found in the diocese of Formiae.[4] The successful candidate was Alvinus, who, in October 598, received permission to use sanctuaries of martyrs to build a basilica.[5]
The importance of Gaeta dates from 846, when Constantine, Bishop of Formiae, fled there and established his residence. In or soon after 999 Bishop Bernard of Gaeta annexed the see of Traetto.
The earliest church in Gaeta was S. Lucia, which was built in the 8th or 9th century, but does not appear in the written record until 986. The next-oldest was S. Maria del Parco (S. Maria Assunta), in which the remains of S. Erasmus were deposited in 842, to keep them from desecration by the Saracens.[6] The remains of S. Marcellus were brought from Syracuse secretly, for the same reason, and hidden in S. Maria del Parco; and, when the secret was revealed in 917, piety and patriotism moved Bishop Bonus and the Hypati, Giovanni and Docibilis, to begin construction of a more suitable and imposing basilica, in the romanesque style, to replace the little S. Maria del Parco.[7] The cathedral was dedicated by Pope Paschal II personally on 3 February 1106.[8]
Pope Paschal died in January 1118, and immediately after the election of his successor, Pope Gelasius II (Giovanni Gaetani) on 24 January, the new pope was compelled by the violence of the Frangipane family to flee the city. By way of the Tiber River, the papal party reached Porto, but then had to take to the sea for a rough voyage to Terracina, and from there to Gaeta. On 10 March 1118, he was consecrated and crowned pope in Gaeta. The papal court stayed in Gaeta through the rest of Lent, but celebrated Easter on April 14 in Capua.[9]
A series of large earthquakes, which began on 1 June 1231, severely damaged buildings from Rome to the Capua, and under Bishop Peter, in 1255, it became necessary to rebuild the cathedral, to which project Pope Alexander IV donated 50 ounces of gold. The new cathedral incorporated the old, as a kind of "double cathedral".[10]
The cathedral was staffed and administered by a chapter, which consisted of four dignities (headed by the archpriest), and sixteen canons. Two of the canons were designated the theologus and the penitentiarus, in accordance with the decrees of the Council of Trent.[11]
Election of 1276
A copy of the Bull of Confirmation of Bishop Bartholomew, dated 21 December 1276, provides useful details about the workings of an episcopal election in Gaeta. On the death of Bishop Benvenuto, the Archpriest and Chapter of Gaeta fixed a date for the election, summoning all who ought to be present and all who wished to attend. On the day, they decided to proceed by the "Way of Scrutiny" (one of three means authorized by Canon Law), and elected three scrutineers, two Canons and the Prior of S. Silvinianus in Gaeta, to collect their own and the other votes and make them public. The Chapter had twenty-one votes, and four Priors of churches in Gaeta also had votes. Seventeen Canons and the four Priors voted for Bartholomew, one of the Canons of Gaeta; the rest voted for Canon Leo Proia. Canon Petrus Bocaterela announced the result and declared Bartholomew elected. Some of the losing party suggested that the election should be contested, but Canon Proia resigned his rights. The results were then sent to Pope John XXI, who had just been elected pope on 8 September 1276, and was living at Viterbo at the time. The pope had the bishop-elect's reputation and the canonical validity of the election investigated, and accepted the result that the election should be confirmed. The bull was duly drawn up, signed, and copies sent to Bishop-elect Bartholomew, to the Archpriest and Chapter, to the clergy of the diocese of Gaeta, and to the people of Gaeta.[12]
When Pope Gregory XII was deposed by the Council of Pisa on 5 June 1409, he fled from Cividale to Gaeta.[13] There he held meetings with King Ladislaus of Naples. Ladislaus had been crowned in Gaeta on 29 May 1390, by the papal legate, Cardinal Angelo Accaiuoli, and had a palace there, where his mother resided.[14] During this time, the papal chamberlain Paolo, dressed in the papal red cassock, was impersonating Gregory XII elsewhere.[15] Gregory remained in Gaeta until 1411, until King Ladislas repudiated him and took up Pope John XXIII. Gregory was compelled to seek safety in Rimini.[16]
Post-Napoleonic Italy
In 1806, Gaeta was occupied by French forces under the command of General Massena, who had been sent to install Napoleon's brother Joseph as King of Naples. The title of Duke of Gaeta was assigned to Joseph Bonaparte's minister of finance, Charles Gaudin. French laws were applied to the kingdom, which, among other things, meant the abolition of the mendicant Orders, and the reassignment of their churches and convents to civic purposes. The French were driven out in 1815.[17]
Following the defeat and deportation of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna, and the return of Pope Pius VII from imprisonment in France, it became necessary to restore good order in the Church, and to revise the terms of previous concordats with various European powers. The Kingdom of Naples proved a difficult case, since its ruler refused to acknowledge the feudal overlordship of the papacy over southern Italy and Sicily. Finally, after changing its name to "The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" and repudiating the old feudal subordination, a concordat was signed with King Ferdinand on 16 February 1818, which was ratified by Pope Pius VII on 7 March 1818. Among other items, it was agreed that the reduction in the number of dioceses, which had been promised in the Concordat of 1741, would actually be carried out.[18] On the same day, in a separate document, the King of the Two Sicilies was granted the privilege of nominating all of the archbishops and bishops of the kingdom.[19]
On 27 June 1818 Pius VII, signed the bull "De Utiliori", which carried out the terms of the reorganization of dioceses agreed to in the Concordat.[20] The cathedral church of Fondi was suppressed, and its city and diocese were permanently added and aggregated to the diocese of Gaeta.[21]
Like other capitals in Europe, Rome experienced the pain of revolution in the spring of 1848. Several times, Pius IX was offered the leadership of the movement for the unification of Italy, but each time he refused. On 15 November 1848, Count Pellegrino Rossi, Pius IX's Minister of the Interior was assassinated. During the night of 24 November, Pius fled from Rome in the disguise of a simple priest. On 29 November, he took up residence in Gaeta, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, where he lived until the following summer.[22] On December 31, 1848, Pius IX raised the diocese to archiepiscopal rank, but without suffragans; the change was purely honorary.[23] On 9 February 1849, the Pope was deposed from his political office as sovereign of the Papal States and Rome, since he had abandoned his station.[24] He departed Gaeta for Naples on 4 September 1849.[25]
Reorganization
Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,[26] major changes were made in the ecclesiastical administrative structure of southern Italy. Wide consultations had taken place with the bishops and other prelates who would be affected. Action, however, was deferred, first by the death of Pope Paul VI on 6 August 1978, then the death of Pope John Paul I on 28 September 1978, and the election of Pope John Paul II on 16 October 1978. Pope John Paul II issued a decree, "Quamquam Ecclesia," on 30 April 1979, ordering the changes.[27] Three ecclesiastical provinces were abolished entirely: those of Conza, Capua, and Sorrento. Once a suffragan of the archdiocese of Capua, the diocese was subsequently exempted (i.e. directly subject to the Pope).
Territory and parishes
The diocese, which includes the Pontine Islands,[28] as well as a part of mainland Lazio, covers a surface of 603 km2.
Presently[when?] it is divided into four districts called foranie which are centred on Gaeta itself, and the former sees of Fondi, Formia and Minturno.
Among the notable bishops of Gaeta were: Francesco Patrizio (1460), friend of Pius II, author of a work in nine books, De Regno et De Institutione Regis, dedicated to Alfonso, Duke of Calabria; and Tommaso de Vio, better known as the famous Thomas Cajetan, a Dominican theologian and Papal diplomat.
^The story is told by Pandulphus Pisanus, who was a member of the party, in his "Life of Pope Gelasius", §10, in: J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLXIII (Paris 1854), pp. 480-481. Pandulphus (Pisanus.) (1802). Costantino Gaetani (ed.). Vita del pontefice Gelasio II.: Recata dalla latina favella nella volgare (in Italian). pp. 8–10, 118, 135–141.
^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.
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 71 (Citta del Vaticano 1979), pp. 562-563.
^Kehr VIII, p. 87, no. 12, and p. 92, quoting Pope Alexander III: "insulas quoque maris Palmariam, Pontiam, Senonem, Pontateram, ex quibus Pontateram in iure proprietario Gaietanae eccl. semper haberi censemus, sicut a bo(nae) me(moriae) Sergio q. d. de domino Campo per testamentum ex antiqua sedis apost(olicae) concessione donata est."
^Bishop Camplus was a member of the family of the Counts of Gaeta. He was bishop of Formiae, but he resided in Gaeta. He was mentioned in two letters written by Pope Hadrian II to Charlemagne. He is called "Campulus episcopus civitatis Caietanae" in Epistle 84. Philipp Jaffé (1867). Monumenta Carolina. Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum, IV (in Latin). Berlin: Apud Weidmannos. pp. 253, 264. Cappelletti XXI, p. 337. Ferrero, p. 205. Kehr VIII, p. 86, no. 1.
^In his Last Will and Testament, Bishop Joannes styles himself "humilis episcopus sancte furmiane ecclesie". Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus. Montecassino: Typis Archicœnobii Montis Casini. 1887. p. 5, no. III, IV.
^Constantinus speaks of himself in a document of 22 September 855 as "Dom. Constantino Episcopo S. Formianae Ecclesiae & Castro Cajetano". Ughelli I, p. 529. Cappelletti XXI, p. 338.
^Bishop Leo was present at the Roman synod of Pope Nicholas I on 18 November 861. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XV (Venice: A. Zatta 1770), p. 603. Cappelletti XXI, p. 338.
^Deusdedit: (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus primus. pp. 28–29, no. XVII. Cappelletti XXI, p. 338. Ferrero, p. 206.
^Bishop Bonus had a part in the recovery of the remains of Saint Erasmus, around thirty years after the destruction of Formiae, and in the reign of Pope John X (914–920). Ferrero, pp. 35, 206.
^Petrus: (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus primus. pp. 60–61, no. XXXV, 66–67, no. XXXIX. Ferrero, p. 206.
^Bishop Leo had been Abbot of the monastery of S. Magno in Fondi. Ferrero, p. 206.
^Bernardus was the son of Marinus, consul and duke of Gaeta ("bernardus in dei nomine veneravilis episcopus sancte gaietane ecclesie et filius domni marini bone memorie consulus et dux suprascripte civitatis"). He was already bishop-elect in May 997, but in September he was already consecrated. Bishop Bernardus took part in the Roman synod of Pope Gregory V in 998. His latest datable document is 1132. A document might suggest that he was still alive in May 1047, but the date is dubious. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIX (Venice: A. Zatta 1774), p. 227. (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus primus. pp. 179, 182, 358, nos. XCVI, XCVII, CLXXXI. Ferrero, pp. 206-207. Armando Petrucci, "Bernardo," in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 9 (1967).
^Bishop Leo was the son of Duke Leo II of Gaeta. He attended the Roman synod of Pope Leo IX in May 1050. He was present at the dedication of the Church of S. Benedict at Montecassino in 1071. Ughelli I, pp. 533-537. Ferrero, p. 207.
^Rainaldus was appointed by Pope Urban II. Ughelli I, p. 537. Cappelletti XXI, pp. 339–340. Ferrero, p. 207.
^Bishop Albertus was already in office in 1105. In January 1108, he received a gift for the Church. In May 1119, he granted a burial place in the cloister to a subdeacon. (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus secundus. pp. 174–178, 180, 202–204, nos. CCLXXX, CCLXXXI, CCLXXXIII, CCXCIII. Cappelletti XXI, p. 340, claims that Pope Paschal II consecrated the cathedral of Gaeta on 3 February 1110; but on that date Pope Paschal was in Rome (P. Jaffe, Regesta pontificum Romanorum I (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 740). Ferrero, p. 207.
^Richardus was the immediate successor of Bishop Albertus. He is attested from 1124 to 1145. Ferrero, p. 208.
^Giacinto (Jaquintus, according to Ughelli). In August 1152, Bishop Iaquintus received a promisary note from two women. On 8 April 1154, Pope Anastasius IV ordered Giacinto to restore the priest Valentinus to his functions. On 12 March 1159, Pope Adrian IV took the Church of Gaeta under papal protection (as had Paschal II, Calixtus II, and Innocent II). (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus secundus. pp. 277 282–286, nos. CCCXLXI, CCCXLV. Ferrero, p. 208. Kehr VIII, p. 87, nos. 10, 11, and 12.
^In a document of January 1169, Cardinal Rainaldus calls himself bishop-elect. On 29 March 1170, he is called bishop in a bull of Pope Alexander III. Codex Diplomaticus Cajetanus II, pp. 290-296, no. 350, 351. Ferrero, p. 209.
^Petrus: On March 1200, Pope Innocent III issued a bull in favor of Bishop Petrus. A document of May 1200 survives. (Monastery), Montecassino (1887). Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus. Vol. Tomus secundus. pp. 325–327, nos. CCCLXVIII, CCCLXIX. His successor was appointed on 30 November 1200. Ferrero, p. 209. Eubel I, p. 258.
^Benvenuto was chosen by Cardinal Octaviano Ubaldini, the papal legate (Eubel I, p. 7), and confirmed by Pope Alexander IV on 21 January 1256. Benvenuto had been Ubaldini's chamberlain. Ughelli I, pp. 540-541. Eubel I, p. 258 with note 1.
^Herrera was appointed by Pope Julius II on 4 November 1506. He participated in the Fifth Lateran Council. He died in 1518. Cappelletti XXI, p. 342. Ferrero, p. 216. Eubel III, p. 200.
^Galeazzo was a native of Bologna. He was papal ambassador to the King of Spain. He was named successor to Bishop Herrera, but died in Rome ten days later. His tomb in Bologna refers to him as Bishop of Gaeta, and the bull of appointment of his successor states that there was a vacancy "per obitum D(omi)ni Galeatii Butringario". Ferrero, p. 216. Eubel III, p. 200, note 4.
^De Vio was born in Gaeta in 1469. He entered the Dominican Order in 1484, and became its Master General in 1508. He was named a cardinal by Pope Leo X on 1 July 1517, and in the next year was papal Legate to the Diet of Augsburg, where he confronted Martin Luther. He was appointed Bishop of Gaeta on 13 April 1519. In 1523 and 1524 he was papal legate in Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia. He died in Rome on 10 August 1534. Eubel III, pp. 16, no. 27; 200Henry Kamen (2003). Who's Who in Europe 1450-1750. London-New York: Routledge. p. 49. ISBN1-134-75547-3.
^Merino was created a cardinal on 21 February 1533, by Pope Clement VII. Merino was nominated by the King of Spain. Eubel III, pp. 21, no. 28; 200 with note 5.
^Flores had previously been Bishop of Castellamare-Stabiae. He died on 3 May 1540. Eubel III, p. 200.
^Antonio Lunello had previously been Bishop of Ravello (1537-1541). Eubel III, p. 200, 282.
^Pietro Lunello: Eubel III, p. 200 with notes 8 and 9.
^Paredes was born in the diocese of Burgos. His correct name was Antonio, not Juan. He was Vicar General of the bishop of Segovia. He was nominated bishop of Gaeta by the king of Spain on 1 January 1662. Paredes was transferred from the diocese of Castellamare di Stabia (1655–1662) to Gaeta on 27 April 1662. He died on 22 August of the same year. Cappelletti XXI, p. 343. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 127 with note 7; 141.
^Valdez was a priest of Naples, and held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure. He was appointed bishop of Gaeta on 6 July 1665. He died on 12 September 1679, according to Gauchat. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 127 with note 8. Cappelletti XXI, p. 343, gives him a reign of two years and five months, which implies a death in December 1667. Ferrero, p. 220, states that Baltasar died on 29 December 1667.
^In 1675, Villanueva was transferred to the diocese of Reggio Calabria by Pope Clement X. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 135 with note 2.
^Colmenares was appointed Bishop of Gaeta on 27 April 1676. He was transferred to the archdiocese of Archbishop of Acerenza e Matera by Pope Innocent XI on 14 March 1678. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 135 with note 3.
^Villaragut was appointed Bishop of Gaeta on 6 November 1683 by Pope Innocent XI. He was transferred to the diocese of Pozzuoli on 2 January 1693. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 135 with note 5.
^Pignatelli: Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 135 with note 7.
^Piñaque: Ritzler-Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 138.
^Lanfreschi was born at Ischia in 1691. He held the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and master of theology from the Sapienza in Rome. He was appointed Bishop of Gaeta on 12 June 1737, by Pope Clement XII. He was transferred to the archdiocese of Acerenza e Matera on 21 May 1738. He died in Naples on 8 February 1754. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 64 with note 4; 138.
^Carmignani: Ritzler-Sefrin VI, p. 138 with note 4.
^Francone was born at Portici (diocese of Naples) in 1728. He held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure from the Sapienza in Rome (1767). He became a Referendary of the Tribunal of the Two Signatures. He was named Archbishop of Cosenza on 14 December 1772. He was transferred to the diocese of Gaeta on 27 February 1792, by Pope Pius VI, and allowed to keep the title Archbishop. He was nominated Bishop of Troia by the King of Naples on 24 October 1797, and transferred to the diocese of Troia on 18 December 1797. He died on 7 May 1799. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, pp. 138 with note 6; 191 with note 5; 419 with note 4.
^Minutolo died in September 1801. Ferrero, p. 223. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, p. 138 with note 7.
^Buonomo: Under his administration, in 1818, the diocese of Fondi, which had been united to the diocese of Gaeta, was completely suppressed. Ferrero, p. 224-225.
^Vari was born in Segni in 1957. He studied in Anagni, where he received a bachelor of theology degree. He then studied in Rome, at the Pontifical French Seminary, where he received a licenciate in Biblical studies. He was an assistant pastor and the region's director of Catholic Action. From 1999 to 2002, he taught New Testament at the l’Istituto Apollinare della Pontificia Università della Santa Croce. He became a pastor. In 2010, he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Pontificia Università San Tommaso d’Aquino. On 21 April 2016, he was named Archbishop of Gaeta by Pope Francis. CV of Bishop Vari: Arcidiocesi di Gaeta, "Monsignor Luigi Vari;" retrieved 3 June 2020. (in Italian)
D’Onofrio, M. (2003). "La Cattedrale di Gaeta nel medioevo," in: L. Cardi (ed.), Pio IX a Gaeta (25 novembre 1848 - 4 settembre 1849), Atti del Convegno di studi (Gaeta, 13 dicembre 1998 - 24 ottobre 1999) Marina di Minturno 2003, pp. 239–262. (in Italian)
Codex diplomaticus Cajetanus (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus. Montecassino: Typis Archicœnobii Montis Casini. 1887. pp. 22–23, no. XIII.
Kamp, Norbert (1973). Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien. Prosopographische Grundlegung. Bistümer und Bischöfe des Königreichs 1194-1266. 1. Abruzzen und Kampanien, Münich 1973, pp. 81–87. (in German)
Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1935). Italia Pontificia, Vol. VIII, Berlin 1935, pp. 80–92. (in Latin)
