The Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti) is a Latindiocese of the Catholic Church in the Marche. It has existed in its current form since 1986. In that year the Diocese of Montalto was united into the Diocese of Ripatransone-San Benedetto del Tronto, which was the renamed historical Diocese of Ripatransone (as of 1983). The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto has been a suffragan see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fermo since 1680.[1][2]
History
Ripatransone is on a hill called Cuprae Mons ("Mountain of Cupra", an ancient deity of the pre-Roman inhabitants), and was a Picene settlement. The origin of the modern name has been disputed; it comes probably from Ripa Trasonis, "Hill of Traso", from the name of the first feudal lord.[3] The castle was erected there in the early Middle Ages, and enlarged later by the bishops of Fermo, who had several conflicts with the people.
Creation of the diocese
On 1 August 1571, in the bull "Illius Fulciti", Pope Pius V raised the castle town of Ripatransone to the status of a city (civitas) and made it an episcopal see, including in its jurisdiction small portions of the surrounding diocese of Fermo, diocese of Ascoli Piceno, diocese of Teramo, and the independent Benedictine monastery of Campo Fellonis. The parish church of S. Benigno was raised to the status of a cathedral. The Pope decreed that it should have a cathedral Chapter, composed of two dignities (the Archpriest and the Archdeacon) and twelve Canons. The archpriest was to act as pastor of the cathedral parish.[4]
In the same document, the Pope ordered that the new city of Ripatransone should have four parishes: one at the cathedral for the district of Agello, the church of S. Angelo de Rofflano for the district of S. Domenico; Ss. Nicholas, Rusticus and Eleutherius for the monte antiquo; and Ss. Gregory and Margarita for the caput montis. The three parish churches were to be prebends of three Canons, who would administer them through vicars.
On 3 October 1571, Pope Pius named as its first bishop Lucio Sassi,[5] who became a cardinal more than twenty years later.
Diocesan synods
A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See.[6]
A diocesan synod was held in Ripatransone by Bishop Filippo Sega (1575–1578) in 1576; the acts of the synod were published at Macerata in 1577.[7] There is reference to a synod held in Ripatransone on 30 July 1616, which would have been summoned by Bishop Sebastiano Poggi (1607–1620).[8] Bishop Niccolò Orsini presided over a diocesan synod on 26–27 October 1642, and held his second diocesan synod in 1648.[9] On 1 May 1689, Bishop Giovan Giorgio Mainardi (1680–1693) held a diocesan synod.[10] Bishop Pietro Alessandro Procaccini (1695–1704) held a diocesan synod in 1699.[11]
Bishop Francesco Andrea Correa presided over a diocesan synod at Ripatransone on 18 September 1729.[12] In c. 1741, Bishop Giacomo Costa, C.R. (1739–1747) held a diocesan synod.[13]
On 19–21 October 1885, Giuseppe Ceppetelli (1882–1890) presided over a diocesan synod in Ripatransone.[14]
Bishop Lorenzo Azzolini (1620–1632) established the diocesan seminary in 1623.[15]
In a bull of 18 December 1924, Pope Pius XI united the Diocese of Ripatransone with the diocese of Montalto ad personam episcopi. He appointed Luigi Ferri as Bishop of Ripatransone with Montalto, and ordered a change in the title of the bishop to Episcopus Montis alti et Ripanus.[17] In 1980, the diocese of Montalto had a population of only 31,500 persons.[18]
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses. It also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures.[19] These considerations applied to Montalto and to Ripatransone as the population migrated in the post-war period to jobs on the coast at San Benedetto.
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. Instead, 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 dioceses of Ripatransone and Montalto be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti. The seat of the diocese was to be in San Benedetto del Tronto, and the church of S. Maria della Marina was to serve as the cathedral of the merged dioceses. The cathedrals in Ripatransone and Montalto were to become co-cathedrals, and the cathedral Chapters were each to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in San Benedetto del Tronto, 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 former dioceses of Montalto and Ripatransone.[20]
As of July 2015, the number of Canons of the cathedral chapter was fixed at eight, including the Vicar General of the diocese, the Canon Penitentiary, the Canon Theologus, and the Exorcist. Three of these are considered dignities: the Archpriest of the cathedral, the Penitentiary, and the Theologus.[21]
^Synodus dioecesana secunda eccl. ripanae celebrata per illustriss. et reverendiss. D. Nicolaum Ursinum, episcopum ripanum, anno M.DC.XXXXVIII. Maceratae: apud Augustinum Griseum, 1649. J.D. Mansi, L. Petit, J.B. Martin, editors), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XXXVIter (Paris: Hubert Welter 1914), pp. 253, 303.
^Constitutiones et decreta in dioecesana synodo ab illustriss. et reverendiss. D. Jo. Georgio Magnardo Dei, et apostolicae Sedis gratia episcopo ripano promulgata kalendis maii anno Domini M.DC.LXXXVIIII, Firmi, apud J. F. Bolis 1693. Silvino da Nadro (1960). Sinodi diocesani italiani: catalogo bibliografico degli atti a stampa, 1534–1878 (in Italian and Latin). Vatican City: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana. p. 308. ISBN9788821001376.
^Mansi, Petit, Martin, editors), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, Tomus XXXVIter, p. 853. Bishop Correa in 1729 remarks that it had been twenty-nine years since the last synod.
^Synodus dioecesana ab illustrissimo ac reverendissimo Domino Josepho Ceppettelli Dei et apostolicae Sedis gratia episcopo ripano celebrata diebus XIX , XX , XXI octobris MDCCCLXXXV in cathedrali ecclesia (Ripatransone: Jaffei e Nisi 1885). Sinodi diocesani italiani (Milano 1957) Centro studi cappuccini lombardi, Opere, 8, p. 21.
^Diocesi di San Benedetto del -Ripatransone-Montalto, "Storia della diocesi"(in Italian); retrieved: 1 April 2020.
^Umberto Benigni (1912). "Ripatransone." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Retrieved: 28 March 2020.
^"Cathedrali Ecclesiae Ripanae, cum Ecclesia Montis alti in personam unitae, R. P. D. Aloisium Ferri, Episcopum Montis alti, qui posthac Episcopus Montis alti et Ripanus appellabitur." Acta Apostolicae Sedis 16 (1924), p. 498. Diocesi di San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto, "Storia della diocesi"; retrieved: 1 April 2020.
^In its decree Christus Dominus, section 22, it stated: "Concerning diocesan boundaries, therefore, this sacred synod decrees that, to the extent required by the good of souls, a fitting revision of diocesan boundaries be undertaken prudently and as soon as possible. This can be done by dividing dismembering or uniting them, or by changing their boundaries, or by determining a better place for the episcopal see or, finally, especially in the case of dioceses having larger cities, by providing them with a new internal organization.... At the same time the natural population units of people, together with the civil jurisdictions and social institutions that compose their organic structure, should be preserved as far as possible as units. For this reason, obviously, the territory of each diocese should be continuous."
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 747–749.
^Diocesi di S. Benedetto del Tronto–Ripatransone–Montalto, "Capitolo dei Canonici"; retrieved: 2 April 2020.
^Born in Bologna in 1537, Sega held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure (Bologna 1560). He became a protonotary apostolic, and served in the government of the Papal States as Governor of Cesena (1566), then of Forli (1569), then of Imola (1571), then of the Romagna (1572), and Governor of the Marche (1575). He was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone on 1 May 1575, by Pope Gregory XIII. In 1577 he was sent as papal diplomat to Flanders (1577) and then to Spain (1577–1581). While still in Spain, on 3 October 1578, he was transferred to the diocese of Piacenza. He became a cardinal in 1591. Ughelli III, p. 761. Lorenzo Cardella (1793), Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa Vol. V (Rome: Pagliarini), pp. 314–315. Eubel III, pp. 55 no. 1; 275 with note 11; 285 with note 4.
^Like his predecessor, Aragonio had been Governor of the Marche. He was transferred to the diocese of Ascoli Piceno. Ughelli III, pp. 761–762. Eubel III, p. 285 with note 5.
^Boncompagniwas appointed Bishop of Ripatransone on 3 August 1579. He was transferred to the diocese of Foligno by Pope Gregory XIII on 31 January 1582. He died in 1584. Ughelli III, pp. 761–762. Eubel III, pp. 199, 285 with note 6.
^A native of Modena, Silingardi was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone by Pope Gregory XIII on 18 June 1582. He was transferred to the diocese of Modena on 19 February 1593, by Pope Clement VIII, where he was employed by Alfonso II of Ferrara on missions to Rome and to Spain. He died on 13 July 1507. Ughelli III, p. 762. Eubel III, pp. 252, 285.
^Nobili: Ughelli III, p. 762. Eubel III, pp. 285 with notes 8 and 9.
^Poggi was a native of Lucca. He was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone by Pope Paul V on 7 May 1607. He often expressed to the pope his desire to become a Jesuit, which Paul V denied. He resigned the diocese by 17 February 1620. He died in Rome on 8 May 1628, and was buried in the Gesù. Ughelli III, p. 762. Gauchat, Hierarchia catholica IV, p. 296 with note 2.
^Azzolini was a native of Fermo, a nephew of Cardinal Azzolini, and was a Canon of the cathedral Chapter. He served as Vicar General of the archbishop of Fermo. He was named Bishop of Ripatransonne on 17 February 1620 by Pope Paul V. He was transferred to the diocese of Narni on 2 August 1632, by Pope Urban VIII. Ughelli III, p. 762. Gauchat IV, pp. 252 with note 4; 296 with note 3.
^Arrigoni was born in Galbiato (diocese of Milan). He was a teacher and preacher in his Order. He became Commissary General of his Order for Germany and northern Italy, and became a friend of Ferdinand II. Pope Urban VIII named him Bishop of Ripatransone on 1634, and gave him the commenda of Santo Spiritu in Sasso in Rome. He died on 6 March 1636. Ughelli III, p. 763. Gauchat IV, p. 296 with note 5.
^A native of Apiro (Camerino), Orsini was appointed bishop of Ripatransone by Urban VIII on 22 September 1636. He died in Rome on 18 October 1653. Ughelli III, p. 763. Gauchat IV, p. 296 with note 6.
^Ulisse Orsini was born in Ameria in 1615, and was a Roman patrician. He was the grandson of Pierfrancesco Orsini, Signore di Montenero, Collepiccolo, Bomarzo e Castelvecchio (of the Mugnano line of the Orsini); and son of Leonida Orsini. He held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure. He held a benefice in the Vatican Basilica, and was a Canon and Prior of Ss. Secondino e Silvestro di Oregleano. He was a protonotary apostolic. Pope Innocent X appointed him Bishop of Ripatransone on 12 January 1654. He died on 20 December 1679; his successor was appointed on 11 March 1680. Ughelli III, p. 763. Gauchat IV, p. 296 with note
^A native of Ancona, Mainardi held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure from the University of Perugia. He became pro-Vicar of Ancona and a Counselor of the Holy Office (Inquisition), and was Archpriest of the cathedral of Ancona. He was appointed bishop of Ripatransone on 11 March 1680 by Pope Innocent XI. He died in November 1693. Ughelli II, p. 763. Ritzler-Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 334 with note 3.
^A native of Torre di Palme (Fermo) and a doctor of theology (Fermo 1666), he had been Primicerius of the cathedral Chapter of Fermo, and was then a Canon of the church of S. Maria in Trastevere in Rome, and was abbot commendatory of Campo Fellonis. He was named Bishop of Ripatrisone on 16 March 1694 by Pope Innocent XII. Azzolini died in the same year, 1694. Ughelli II, p. 763. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 334 with note 4.
^Battistelli held the degree of Doctor in utroque iure. He was transferred to the diocese of Foligno by Pope Clement XI on 10 May 1717. Ughelli II, p. 763. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 334 with note 6.
^Lauri belonged to a noble family of Anagni, and held a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University (1682) and a doctorate in utroque iure from the Sapienza in Rome (1683). He was a Protonotary Apostolic. He was the Canon penitentiary in the cathedral, and Vicar General of the diocese of Anagni (from 1709). He was named Bishop of Ripatrisone on 12 July 1717, by Pope Clement XI. He was transferred to the diocese of Ascoli Piceno by Pope Benedict XIII on 31 July 1736. Ughelli II, p. 763-764. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 334 with note 7.
^Born in Bassano (Vicenza) in 1699, Costa served as a teacher of theology, and administered the Armenian and Ruthenian college in Lwów (Poland). He was named Bishop of Ripatransone on 15 July 1739 by Pope Clement XII. On 29 May 1747, Costa was transferred to the diocese of Belluno by Pope Benedict XIV. He died on 19 August 1755. Ritzler-Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, pp. 120 with note 4; 358 with note 2.
^Recchi: Cappelletti III, p. 717. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, p. 358 with note 3.
^Bitozzi: Cappelletti III, p. 717. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, p. 358 with note 4.
^Bacher: Cappelletti III, p. 717. Ritzler-Sefrin VI, p. 358 with note 5.
^Born in Scavolino (c. 20 miles southwest of San Marino, in the diocese of Montefeltro), Caliendi was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone on 27 January 1842. On 1845, Caliendi was transferred to the diocese of Montefeltro by Pope Gregory XVI on 21 April 1845. He died in 1849. Cappelletti III, p. 717. Ritzler-Sefrin VII, pp. 193, 324.
^Gentili was born in Sanseverino, and became a Canon of the cathedral there, as well as diocesan historian. He was named Bishop of Ripatransone on 21 April 1845 by Pope Gregory XVI. He was transferred to the diocese of Bishop of Pesaro on 12 April 1847, by Pope Pius IX. He died on 22 April 1859. Cappelletti III, p. 717. Ritzler-Sefrin VII, p. 324; VIII, p. 456.
^Bisleti was a native of Veroli (Frosinone), born in 1814. He was named Bishop of Ripatransone by Pope Pius IX on 4 October 1847. He was transferred to the diocese of the conjoined dioceses of Tarquinia e Civitavecchia on 23 June 1854. He died on 28 June 1868. Notizie per l'anno 1855 (in Italian). Roma: typographia della rev. cam. apostolica. 1835. p. 115. Ritzler-Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VIII, pp. 227, 483.
^Spoglia's appointment to Ripatransone was not recognized by the Government of the Kingdom of Italy, because the Vatican did not apply for the Exequatur (permission to appoint). Appointed, Bishop of Comacchio)
^Sarnari was transferred to the diocese of Macerata e Tolentino by Pope Leo XIII in 1902.
^Chiaretti had been Vicar General of the archdiocese of Spoleto. He was appointed Bishop of Ripatransone-San Benedetto del Tronto by Pope John Paul II on 7 April 1983. He was transferred to the archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve on 1995. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 75 (Città del Vaticano 1983), p. 526.
^On Monday, November 4, 2013, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Gestori upon his having reached the age of 75 at which Bishops must offer to retire, in accordance with Canon 401.1 of the Latin rite1983 Code of Canon Law. He was succeeded by Bishop Carlo Bresciani. Vatican Press Office, "Bolletino 4 November 2013", "Rinunce e Nomine". Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
^Bresciani was born in Nave in 1949. From 1975 to 1982 (with a brief interruption), he studied in Rome. From 1986 to 2009, he taught at the Catholic university in Brescia. In 2009, he was named Rector of the diocesan seminary of Brescia. He was named Bishop of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto on 4 November 2013, and was consecrated a bishop on 11 January 2014. Vatican Press Office,"Bolletino 4 November 2013," "Rinunce e Nomine". Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013. CV of the bishop: Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto, Vescovo: "Biografia"(in Italian); retrieved: 28 March 2020.
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