Roman Catholic Diocese of Vigevano

Diocese of Vigevano Dioecesis Viglevanensis
File:Vigevano Duomo dalla torre.jpg Vigevano Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Milan
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 188,900 179,179 (94.9%)
Parishes	87
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	14 March 1530 (494 years ago)
Cathedral	Cattedrale di S. Ambrogio
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Maurizio Gervasoni
Emeritus Bishops	Claudio Baggini Vincenzo Di Mauro
Map
File:Roman Catholic Diocese of Vigevano in Italy.svg
Website
www.diocesivigevano.it

The Italian Catholic Diocese of Vigevano (Latin: Dioecesis Viglevanensis) lies almost entirely in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy. It has existed since 1530. The diocese is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan, having in the past been suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli.

History

The earliest notices of Vigevano date from the tenth century, when it was favoured as a residence by King Arduin for hunting. In the next period it was a Ghibelline commune, and was accordingly besieged and taken by the Milanese in 1201 and again in 1275. In 1328 it surrendered to Azzone Visconti, and thereafter shared the political fortunes of Milan. In the last years of the Visconti domination it sustained a siege by Francesco Sforza.

With the Treaty of Worms (1743) it passed to the King of Sardinia. Blessed Matteo Carreiro, O.P., died at Vigevano. Until 1530 the town belonged to the Diocese of Novara and had a collegiate chapter. Francesco Sforza procured the erection of the see and provided its revenues.

The first bishop was Galeazzo Pietra, succeeded by his nephew Maurizio Pietra (1552); both of these promoted the Tridentine reforms, and the work was continued by their successors. Marsilio Landriani (1594) distinguished himself in various nunciatures and founded a Barnabite college for the education of young men. Giorgio Odescalchi (1610) was a very zealous pastor; the process of his beatification has been commenced. Giovanni Caramuel Lobkowitz (1675) was an example of pastoral virtue and zeal and the author of many works, philosophical, theological, ascetical etc., though his Theologia fundamentalis was censured. Pier Marino Sonnani (1688), a Minorite, who enlarged the seminary, maintained a struggle against the spread of the doctrines of Miguel Molinos. Nicola Saverio Gamboni was appointed to the see by Napoleon in 1801.

The Vigevano Cathedral was initially built in 1100, and then rebuilt in the sixteenth century through a commission by Duke Francesco II Sforza. The facade of the second and current structure was re-designed by Cardinal Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz in 1673 (completed c. 1680). The Church of S. Pietro Martiere was built, with the adjacent Dominican convent, by Filippo Maria Visconti in 1445; the convent is now used for government offices and courts. Among the civil edifices is the castle, once a fortress, built by Bramante in 1492, by order of Ludovico il Moro, which became a royal palace.

Ordinaries

Diocese of Vigevano

Erected : 14 March 1530
Latin Name: Viglevanensis Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Milan

• Galeazzo Pietra (14 Mar 1530 - 27 Oct 1552 Died)
• Maurizio Pietra (27 Oct 1552 - 20 May 1576 Died)
• Alessandro Casale (1 Jul 1577 - 16 Feb 1582 Died)
• Bernardino Bricennio (Brisseno) (5 Nov 1582 - 11 Aug 1588 Died)
• Pietro Fauno Costacciaro (12 Jun 1589 - 9 Sep 1592 Died)
• Marsilio Landriani (bishop) (10 Nov 1593 - 27 Aug 1609 Died)
• Pietro Giorgio Odescalchi (26 May 1610 - 7 May 1620 Died)
• Francisco Romero (bishop), O. Carm. (11 Jan 1621 - 16 Jul 1635 Died)
• Juan Gutiérrez (bishop) (18 May 1648 - 20 Mar 1649 Died)
• Gabriel Adarzo de Santander y Martínez de Viaín, O. de M. (9 Mar 1654 - 24 Sep 1657 Confirmed, Archbishop of Otranto)
• Attilio Pietrasanta, O. Cist. (28 Jul 1659 - 7 Nov 1666 Died)
• Gerolamo Visconti (3 Oct 1667 - 26 Oct 1670 Died)
• Giovanni Rasino (1 Jul 1671 - 18 Nov 1672 Died)
• Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, O.S.B. (25 Sep 1673 - 7 Sep 1682 Died)
• Ferdinando de Rojas (Roxas) (20 Dec 1683 - 30 Dec 1685 Died)
• Pier Marino Sormani, O.F.M. (11 Oct 1688 - 12 Aug 1702 Died)
• Gerolamo Archinto (5 Mar 1703 - 22 Oct 1710 Died)
• Giorgio Cattaneo (2 Mar 1712 - 7 Nov 1730 Died)
• Carlo Bossi (18 Jun 1731 - 7 Oct 1753 Died)
• Francesco Agostino della Chiesa (17 Feb 1755 - 11 Aug 1755 Died)
• Giuseppe Maria Scarampi (18 Jul 1757 - 18 Feb 1801 Died)
• Francesco Milesi (18 Sep 1807 - 23 Sep 1816 Confirmed, Patriarch of Venice)
• Giovanni Francesco Toppia (25 May 1818 - 20 Jul 1828 Died)
• Giovanni Battista Accusani (5 Jul 1830 - 19 Jul 1843 Died)
• Pio Vincenzo Forzani (25 Jan 1844 - 15 Dec 1859 Died)
• Pietro Giuseppe de Gaudenzi (27 Oct 1871 - 15 Oct 1891 Died)
• Giacomo Merizzi (14 Dec 1891 - 28 Nov 1898 Resigned)
• Pietro Berruti (28 Nov 1898 - 8 Apr 1921 Died)
• Angelo Giacinto Scapardini, O.P. (27 Aug 1921 - 18 May 1937 Died)
• Giovanni Bargiggia (6 Jul 1937 - 11 Apr 1946 Died)
• Antonio Picconi (13 Jun 1946 - 21 Apr 1952 Died)
• Luigi Barbero (26 Jul 1952 - 1 Apr 1971 Died)
• Mario Rossi (4 Aug 1971 - 19 Aug 1988 Died)
• Giovanni Locatelli (12 Nov 1988 - 18 Mar 2000 Retired)
• Claudio Baggini (18 Mar 2000 - 12 Mar 2011 Resigned)
• Vincenzo Di Mauro (12 Mar 2011 - 21 Jul 2012 Resigned)
• Maurizio Gervasoni (20 Jul 2013 - )

Parishes

Of the 87 parishes 86 fall, like Vigevano, within the Province of Pavia in Lombardy. The exception is S. Silvano Martire which is within the commune of Sozzago in the Piedmontese province of Novara.

References

• Cappelletti, Le chiese d'Italia, XIV
• Biffignandi, Memorie storiche della citta e contado di Vigevano

External links

• Source

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