Roman Catholic Diocese Of Lucera–Troia

The diocese reached its present configuration in 1986, by combining the older diocese of Lucera with the diocese of Troia, the seat of which was Troia Cathedral, now a co-cathedral of the united diocese.

Diocese of Lucera–Troia Dioecesis Lucerina-Troiana
Lucera Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Foggia-Bovino
Statistics
Area	1,337 km2 (516 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2019) 66,840 59,850 (est.)
Parishes	33
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4th century 1986 (merger)
Cathedral	Lucera Cathedral
Co-cathedral	Troia Cathedral
Secular priests	51 (diocesan) 15 (Religious Orders) 5 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Giuseppe Giuliano
Website
www.diocesiluceratroia.it

Lucera

Local tradition traces the origin of the bishopric of Lucera to the third century and Saint Bassus. Two other imaginary bishops, Johannes and Marcus, first appear in a martyrology written in the 11th or 12th century, whose authority is usually rejected. Pope Gelasius I (492–496) wrote to two local bishops, complaining about the attack on the Monastery in Fundo Luciano in the territory of the diocese of Lucera led by two priests of the diocese of Lucera, and orders the bishops to advise the (unnamed) bishop of Lucera to go to the monastery to ensure that attacks against the clergy should not take place. The first historically certain bishop is Marcus (c. 743).

It was in the 1220s, under Bishop Bartolomaeus, that Frederick II began the settlement of Sicilian Saracens at Lucera.

In 1391, the diocese of Lucera was increased by the addition of the bishopric of Castel Fiorentino (Farentino), a city founded in 1015 by the Byzantine catapan Basil Mesardonites, and the place of Emperor Frederick II's death.

After 1409, the diocese of Tortiboli - created before 1236 - was united to Lucera. In 1969, the name (though not the diocese) was revived under its Latin name Tortibulum.

In 1609, 1687, and 1759, the diocese of Lucera is attested as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Benevento.

Troia

Around 1031, the diocese of Troia is attested as being directly subject to the pope. This was confirmed by Pope Paschal II in a bull of 10 November 1100, granting the bishops of Troia the right to be consecrated by the pope in perpetuum.

In 1127, Count Roger II of Sicily presented Pope Honorius II (1124–1130) with a large gift of gold and silver, and promised him the towns of Troia and Montefusco, if the pope would grant him the standard and title of Duke of Apulia. In November 1127, Pope Honorius was in Troia, where he held a council, in which he excommunicated Count Roger and anyone who should support his efforts to become Duke of Apulia. On 5 December 1127, the pope granted Troia a charter of constitutions and liberties. He also turned aside the leaders of Apulia, fearing the creation of a Norman kingdom in southern Italy.

On 31 December 31, 1963, the diocese of Troia

The cathedral of Troia, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was administered by a Chapter of twenty canons, headed by four dignities (led by the Archdeacon, and the Archpriest). In 1675, there were four dignities and sixteen canons. In 1752, there were four dignities and twelve canons.

Pope Urban II held a synod at Troia on 11–12 March 1093, at which fifty-five bishops were in attendance.

Post-Napoleonic restoration

Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the Kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and King Ferdinand IV reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand, however, was not prepared to accept the pre-Napoleonic situation, in which Naples was a feudal subject of the papacy. Neither was he prepared to accept the large number of small dioceses in his kingdom; following French intentions, he demanded the suppression of fifty dioceses. Lengthy, detailed, and acrimonious negotiations ensued. On 17 July 1816, King Ferdinand issued a decree, in which he forbade the reception of any papal document, including without prior reception of the royal exequatur. This meant that prelates could not receive bulls of appointment, consecration, or installation without the king's permission.

A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818. The re-erection of the dioceses of the kingdom and the ecclesiastical provinces took more than three years. The right of the king to nominate the candidate for a vacant bishopric was recognized, as in the Concordat of 1741, subject to papal confirmation (preconisation). On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore in which the metropolitan archdiocese of Benevento was restored. The united dioceses of Montecorvino and Vulturaria were permanently suppressed and added to the territory of the diocese of Lucera. Lucera continued as a suffragan of Benevento.

The diocese of Troia had been immediately subject to the Holy See in 1752, and it remained so under the new arrangements in the Kingdom of Naples in 1818.

Post-Vatican-II changes

Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40, Pope Paul VI ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy. The decree "Eo quod spirituales" of 12 September 1976 created a new episcopal conference in the region called "Basilicata". Pope Paul VI ordered consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned.

On 30 April 1979, Pope John Paul II continued the reorganization by promoting the diocese of Foggia to the rank of metropolitan archbishopric, and assigned to its new ecclesiastical province the dioceses of Siponto, Troia (which had been directly subject to the Holy See), Ausculo e Cerignola, Bovino, Lucera, Santo Severino and Vestana.

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. 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 September 30, 1986, the diocese of Troia was united with Lucera to form the diocese of Lucera–Troia, as a suffragan of the also reconstituted Metropolitan Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino. Both its cathedral in Lucera and its co-cathedral in Troia have the rank of minor basilica.

Diocese of Lucera

Erected: 4th Century
Latin Name: Lucerina

to 1450

1450 to 1700

1700 to 1986

Diocese of Troia

to 1200

1200 to 1500

1500 to 1800

1800 to 1986

Diocese of Lucera-Troia

United: 30 September 1986
Latin Name: Lucerina-Troiana

• Raffaele Castielli (1987–1996 Resigned)
• Francesco Zerrillo (1997–2007 Retired)
• Domenico Cornacchia (2007–2016)
• •Giuseppe Giuliano (20 Oct 2016 Appointed - )

• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Eubel, Conradus; Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo (in Latin). Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi (in Latin). Vol. VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1968). Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi sive summorum pontificum, S. R. E. cardinalium, ecclesiarum antistitum series... A pontificatu Pii PP. VII (1800) usque ad pontificatum Gregorii PP. XVI (1846) (in Latin). Vol. VII. Monasterii: Libr. Regensburgiana.
• Remigius Ritzler; Pirminus Sefrin (1978). Hierarchia catholica Medii et recentioris aevi... A Pontificatu PII PP. IX (1846) usque ad Pontificatum Leonis PP. XIII (1903) (in Latin). Vol. VIII. Il Messaggero di S. Antonio.
• Pięta, Zenon (2002). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi... A pontificatu Pii PP. X (1903) usque ad pontificatum Benedictii PP. XV (1922) (in Latin). Vol. IX. Padua: Messagero di San Antonio. ISBN 978-88-250-1000-8.

Studies

• Antonetti, Antonio (2013). "Le elezioni episcopali e i vescovi della rinascita troiana (1266-1284)," (in Italian) in: Carte di Puglia Anno XV, no. 2 (2013), pp. 31–42.
• Antonetti, Antonio (2014). "Alcune note sulla Chiesa lucerina tra Bizantini e Normanni (secc. X-XII)," (in Italian) In:Itinerari di ricerca storica, 2014 n.2, pp. 99–119.
• Antonetti, Antonio (2015). "I vescovi di Lucera del XIII secolo: note per una cronotassi scientifica." (in Italian). In: Archivio storico pugliese 68 (2015), pp. 51–79.
• Antonetti, Antonio (2017). "La documentazione vescovile lucana nella prima età angioina (1266-1310). Una messa a punto della questione." (in Italian). In: F. Panarelli (ed.), Alle fonti della Basilicata medievale: edizioni, progetti e cantieri (Bari 2017), pp. 161–198.
• Antonetti, Antonio (2018). "I vescovi e la territorialzzazione delle diocesi di Puglia, Molise, e Basilicata tra XIII e XIV secolo." (in Italian). In: Rivista di storia della Chiesa in Italia Vol. 72, No. 2 (2018), pp. 379–404.
• Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1870). Le chiese d'Italia: dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Vol. decimonono (19). Venezia: G. Antonelli. pp. 255–275. [Lucera]
• Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1870). Le chiese d'Italia: dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Vol. vigesimoprimo (21). Venezia: G. Antonelli. pp. 457–463. [Troia]
• Kamp, Norbert (1975). Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien: I. Prosopographische Grundlegung, Bistumer und Bistümer und Bischöfe des Konigreichs 1194–1266: 2. Apulien und Calabrien München: Wilhelm Fink 1975. pp. 508–528.
• Kehr, Paulus Fridolin (1962). Italia pontificia. Regesta pontificum Romanorum. Vol. IX: Samnia – Apulia – Lucania. Berlin: Weidmann. (in Latin). Pp. 154 154-160.
• Lanzoni, Francesco (1927). Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604) (in Italian). Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. pp. 272–277.
• Mattei-Cerasoli, Leone (1919). "Da archivii e biblioteche: Di alcuni vescovi poco noti". (in Italian). In: Archivio storico per le province Neapolitane 44 (Napoli: Luigi Lubrano 1919). pp. 310–335, at 332–334.
• Oldfield, Paul (2007). "Urban Government in Southern Italy, c.1085-c.1127," in: English Historical Review 122, No. 497 (2007), pp. 579–608.
• Pelliccia, Alessio Aurelio (ed.). "Chronici Trojani Fragmentum." (in Latin). In: Alexii Aurelii Pelliccia De Christianae Ecclesiae primae, mediae et novissimae aetatis politia Tomus Tertius. Madrid: apud viduam Joachimi Ibarra, 1795. pp. 358–372.
• Rubino, G. (1997). Vescovi e personaggi illustri di Aecae e Troja. (in Italian). Troia 1997.
• Savino, L. (1954). La città di Troja e i suoi vescovi (1022-1954). (in Italian). Foggia 1954
• Ughelli, Ferdinando; Coleti, Niccolò (1721). Italia sacra, sive De Episcopis Italiae (in Latin). Vol. octavus (VIII). Venice: apud Sebastianum Coleti. pp. 313–326.

• Catholic Hierarchy: Lucera-Troia ^{[self-published source]}
• GigaCatholic: Italy, various^{[self-published source]}
• Diocese of Lucera-Troia official website (in Italian)