The Diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca (Latin: Dioecesis Uxentina-S. Mariae Leucadensis) is a Latindiocese of the Catholic Church in Apulia, has existed under this name since 1959. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lecce. The historic Diocese of Ugento has existed since the thirteenth century.[1][2]
History
While it was part of the Byzantine empire, Ugento had Greek bishops and was subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople. Ugento was destroyed by the Saracens in the 8th century, and by the Turks in 1527.[3] The earliest recorded bishop, Joannes, is known from a Greek liturgical text, and he may have been a Greek bishop. The Greek rite flourished in many places in the diocese of Ugento until 1591.
Of the Latin bishops, the earliest known is the Benedictine monk of Montecassino, Symon, of unknown date.[4]
In 1818, a new concordat with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies committed the pope to the suppression of more than fifty small dioceses in the kingdom. In the ecclesiastical province of Otranto, the diocese of Alessano,[6] formerly a suffragan of Otranto, was suppressed by Pope Pius VII in the bull "De Utiliori" of 27 June 1818, and its territory incorporated into the diocese of Ugento.[7] In the same concordat, the King acquired the right to nominate candidates for vacant bishoprics. That situation persisted down until the final overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in 1860.[8]
In 1959, Bishop Giuseppe Ruotolo (1937–1968) petitioned the Vatican for permission to add the name of the local manifestation of the Virgin Mary, S. Maria de Leuca, to the name of the diocese. His stated reasons were: to strengthen the traditional devotion of his people to the Virgin; to obtain favors from the Virgin; and to strengthen the bonds that connected his people with the Papacy. Pope John XXIII approved the petition, and on 1 August 1959 the Sacred Consistorial Congregation authorized the change, and delegated to Bishop Ruotolo all the necessary and appropriate powers to bring the change into effect. He was required to supply the Congregation with an authentic copy of the act which brought about the change. The change brought no alteration in the constitution, administration, or operation of the diocese.[9]
Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the Council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,[10] the Episcopal Conference of Apulia petitioned the Holy See (Pope) that Lecce be made a metropolitan and that a new ecclesiastical province be created. After wide consultations among all affected parties, Pope John Paul II issued a decree on 20 October 1980, elevating Lecce to the status of metropolitan see. He also created the new ecclesiastical province of Lecce, whose constituent bishoprics (suffragans) were to be: Brindisi (no longer a metropolitanate, though the archbishop allowed to retain the title of archbishop), Otranto (no longer a metropolitanate, though the archbishop allowed to retain the title of archbishop), Gallipoli, Nardò, Ostuno, and Uxentina-S. Mariae Leucadensis (Ugento).[11]
Pope Francis visited the Diocese on Friday 20 April 2018.[12]
Cathedral and Chapter
The cathedral of Ugento was originally dedicated in honor of S. Vincent of Saragossa. When a new cathedral was built, in 1745 it was dedicated to the taking up (assumption) of the body of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
The cathedral was administered by a Chapter. The Cantor and Chapter are mentioned in the letter of Pope Martin IV on 23 November 1282, in which he approves their request to have Bishop Goffredus of Leuca transferred to Ugento as their bishop in succession to the late Bishop Lando.[13] In 1705, there were three dignities and twelve Canons in the Chapter.[14] In the mid-nineteenth century, the Chapter consisted of only one dignity, the Cantor, and ten Canons.[3]
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.[15]
Bishop Ludovico Ximenes (Jiménez) (1627–1636) held a diocesan synod on 26 November 1628.[16] On 3 August 1645, Bishop Girolamo Martini (1637–1648) presided over a diocesan synod.[17] Bishop Antonio Carafa (1663–1704) held a diocesan synod on 27 October 1680, his second synod.[18] The Vicar Capitular, Giuseppe Felice Salzedo, held a synod in the cathedral on 20 May 1720.[19]
^Kamp, p. 739: "Der Pontifikat des Cassineser Mönches Simon in Ugento läßt sich nicht genauer
datieren. Die Einordnung in das letzte Viertel des 12. Jahrhunderts ist nur eine vorläufige Hypothese."
^Umberto Benigni (1912). "Diocese of Ugento."The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912); retrieved 30 June 2019.
^The seat of the bishop had once been at Leuca, but it was moved to Alessano in the 14th century. Kehr, p. 409.
^Bullarii Romani continuatio Tomus 15, p. 7 column 1, "Articulus XXVIII".
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 51 (Citta del Vaticano 1959), pp. 715-716.
^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 72 (Città del Vaticano 1980), pp. 1076-1077.
^S. Palese, "Sinodi diocesani e visite pastorali della diocesi di Alessano e di Ugento, dal Concilio di Trento al Concordato del 1818," p. 484 with note 190.
^Palese, p. 486 with note 197. However Palese lists three earlier synods.
^Constitutiones Synodales Editae et Promulgatae a Reverendiss. D(omino) D. Josepho Felice Salzedo vicario capitulari uxentino, sede vacante per obitum D. Nicolai Spinelli episcopi, in synodo diocesana habita in ecclesia cathedrali uxentina die 20 mensis maii feria 2 Pentecostis anno D. MDCCXX. (Lecce, 1720)/
^Eubel Hierarchia catholica I, p. 374. Kamp, p. 740.
^Gottfredus had been Bishop of Alessano (Leucadensis). He was requested (postulatus), as a result of a canonical electoral meeting to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Bishop Landus, and was transferred to Ugento by Pope Martin IV on 23 November 1282. F. Olivier-Martin (1901). Les registres de Martin IV (1281-1285): recueil des bulles de ce pape (in Latin and French). Paris: A. Fontemoing. pp. 124, no. 298. Eubel I, pp. 83, 374.
^Thomas had previously been Bishop of Lettere (c. 1384–1389). He was transferred to Ugento by Pope Boniface IX on 6 April 1392. He died in 1399. Eubel I, pp. 309, 375.
^Nuccio: Gams, p. 938 column 1. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 206.
^Philippus: Gams, p. 938 column 1. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 206.
^Bishop Giaconi was transferred to the diocese of Pozzuoli by Pope Clement VIII on 19 March 1494. He died in 1514. Gams, p. 938 column 1. Eubel II, pp. 206, 219.
^Maurus was appointed on 19 March 1494. Eubel II, p. 206; III, p. 262.
^On 6 July 1537 Borromeo was transferred to the diocese of Pozzuoli by Pope Paul III. Eubel III, p. 262.
^Bonaventura was presented by the Emperor Charles V. Eubel III, p. 262 with note 3.
^Minturno was named Bishop of Ugento on 27 January 1559 by Pope Paul IV. On 13 July 1565 Minturno was transferred to the diocese of Crotone by Pope Pius IV. Eubel III, pp. 180, 262.
^A member of the Order of S. Maria della Mercede, Ludovicus Ximenez was nominated by King Philip IV of Spain on 3 July 1626, and approved (preconised) by Pope Urban VIII on 30 August 1627. He died in 1636. Gauchat, p. 351. Palese, p. 483.
^Girolamo Martini was a native of Naples. He was nominated to the diocese of Ugento by King Philip IV of Spain on 3 October 1636, and preconised (approved) by Pope Urban VIII on 30 March 1637. He held two diocesan synods, the second in 1645. He died in 1648. Gauchat, p. 351. Palese, p. 484.
^A native of Guimares in Portugal, Agostinho Barbosa was a jurist, and had written twenty-two books on civil law. He was nominated Bishop of Ugento by King Philip IV of Spain, and preconised (approved) by Pope Clement X on 4 July 1648. His funeral monument states that he died on 19 November 1649. Ughelli, pp. 113-114. Cataldi, p. 729. Gauchat, p. 351 (whose dates are confused). Marek Sygut (1998). Natura e origine della potestà dei vescovi nel Concilio di Trento e nella dottrina successiva (1545-1869) (in Italian). Rome: Gregorian University. pp. 221–222, especially note 20. ISBN978-88-7652-805-7.
^A native of Naples, Carafa was nominated bishop of Ugento by King Philip IV on 24 May 1662, and preconised (approved) by Pope Alexander VII on 12 February 1663. He is credited with eight diocesan synods, one of them a major one on 27 October 1680. He died in Ugento on 9 May 1704. Gauchat, p. 351. Palese, p. 485.
^Born in Saldon (diocese of Albarracín, Spain) in 1658, Lázaro y Terrer was a lecturer in theology at the University of Naples when he was appointed Bishop of Ugento in consistory on 9 February 1705 by Pope Clement XI. He died on 9 My 1709. Ritzler-Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 397 with note 3.
^Spinelli died on 5 June 1718. Gams, p. 958. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 397 with note 4.
^The Vicar Capitular was Giuseppe Felice Salcedo, Canon of Otranto.
^Maddalena was appointed Bishop of Ugento in the consistory of 2 March 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII. On 27 September 1724 Maddalena was confirmed (preconised) by Pope Benedict XIII as Archbishop of Brindisi. Ritzler-Sefrin V, p. 397 with note 5.
^Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon until 1814, and there were difficulties with the restored government of the Kingdom of Naples (1815), because the king refused to acknowledge the feudal allegiance of his throne to the Papacy. The Vicar Capitular was Mons. Giovanni D'Anisi, who became Bishop of Gallipoli in October 1811. He resigned his vicarate on 6 August 1815. He was succeeded on the same day by Canon Marino de Notariis, Cantor of the cathedral Chapter. He resigned on 14 July 1818. Palese, "Sinodi," p. 499.
^Alleva was promoted to the diocese of Salerno in 1825. Cataldi, p. 754.
^Ruotolo had been Provost of the church of S. Nicholas in Andria. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 29 (Città del Vaticano 1937), p. 450.
^Angiuli was born in Sannicandro di Bari in 1952. He obtained a licentiate in theology at the Gregorian University in Rome in 1981, and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Bari in 1993. He obtained a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Gregorian in 1997, with a reworking of his licentiatial thesis on Tommaso Campanella. CV of Bishop Angiuli: Diocesi di Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca, "Vescovo: Mons. Vito Angiuli"; retrieved 30 June 2019. (in Italian)
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. Tomus VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
Kamp, Norbert (1975). Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien. I. Prosopographische Grundlegung: 2. Apulien und Kalabrien. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. (in German)
Kehr, Paul Fridolin (1962). Italia pontificia. Vol. IX: Samnium — Apulia — Lucania. Berlin: Weidmann. (in Latin)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Ugento". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
