Roman Catholic Diocese of Casale Monferrato

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Diocese of Casale Monferrato

Dioecesis Casalensis
File:Duomocasalemonferrato2.JPG
Location
Country Italy
Ecclesiastical province Vercelli
Statistics
Area Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2006)
103,900
101,500 (97.7%)
Parishes 115
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 18 April 1474
Cathedral Cattedrale di S. Evasio e S. Lorenzo
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Alceste Catella
Map
File:Roman Catholic Diocese of Casale Monferrato in Italy.svg
Website
www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it

The Diocese of Casale Monferrato (Latin: Dioecesis Casalensis) is a Roman catholic diocese in northwest Italy, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli which forms part of the ecclesiastical region of Piedmont. The diocese, which adheres to the Roman Rite, was established on 18 April 1474; in 2004 it had a population of 103,500 of whom 101,200 were baptised. Alceste Catella has been bishop of the diocese since 15 May 2008.

History

Casale Monferrato, the ancient Bodincomagus, is a city in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont (Italy), on the River Po, and has been a stronghold since the time of the Lombards. Liutprand, King of the Lombards enlarged it, and Emperor Otto II made it the chief town of a marquisate, giving it to the sons of Aleran, Duke of Saxony; later it was inherited by Emperor Michael VIII, Palaeologus, who sent thither his son Theodore. In 1533, the dynasty of the Palaeologi being extinct, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor gave it to the House of Gonzaga. From 1681 to 1706 it was in the hands of the French, from whom, in 1713, it passed to the House of Savoy. Casale was created a see in 1474 by Sixtus IV; previously it belonged to the Diocese of Asti. Its first bishop was Bernardino de Tebaldeschi; his successor was Gian Giorgio Paleologo (1517), who also governed the marquisate for his nephew, a minor. Among its noteworthy bishops were: the Dominican Benedetto Erba (1570), most zealous for the Christian instruction of children and the introduction of the Tridentine reforms, in which good work he was associated with St. Charles Borromeo; he was also the founder of the monti di pietà; Giulio Careta (1614), who imitated other contemporary bishops and founded an oratory for priests, and when the pest was ravaging Casale (1630) himself nursed the sick; Scipione Pasquali (1645), author of a history of the campaign of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy against Montferrat. Among the churches of Casale are the cathedral, one of the finest monuments of Lombard architecture, and that of Sant’Ilario (Hilary of Poitiers).[1]

Bishops of the diocese

Parishes

The diocese, which covers an area of 970 km², is divided into 115 parishes.[2] The majority, like Casale itself, are in the Province of Alessandria, while the rest are divided between the provinces of Asti and Turin. A list of parishes by province and commune follows; locations (villages or neighbourhoods) within a commune are shown in brackets.

Province of Alessandria

Alfiano Natta
S. Antonio Abate (Sanico)
S. Eusebio (Cardona)
S. Marziano. The antiquity of the parish is uncertain, but it became a pieve of the Diocese of Asti between 836 and 886. It passed to Casale between 1474 and 1577, returned to Asti in 1805 and passed again finally to Casale in 1817.[3]
Altavilla Monferrato
S. Giulio. The parish existed under this dedication from time immemorial. Later dedications were to S. Michele and to S. Maria degli Angeli, returning to S. Giulio (albeit in a new parish church) in 1630. Until the creation of the Diocese of Casale this formed part of the Diocese of Vercelli.[4]
S. Defendente (Franchini). The parish was created 20 October 1821.[5]
Balzola
Assunzione di Maria Vergine. This appears on a mid-tenth-century list of the pievi of the Diocese of Vercelli, and may well date back to times of Saint Eusebius. It was among the original parishes of the Diocese of Casale, although it returned to Vercelli’s jurisdiction for the years 1805–1817.[6]
Borgo San Martino
Santi Quirico e Giulitta. This parish is thought to have been part of the Diocese of Pavia from the Early Middle Ages until 1805 when it passed to the Diocese of Alessandria; the following year it passed to that of Casale.[7]
Bozzole
Visitazione di Maria Vergine
Cabella Ligure
SS. Nome di Maria (Guazzolo)
Camagna Monferrato
S. Eusebio
Camino
S. Lorenzo
S. Pietro Apostolo (Castel San Pietro)
Casale Monferrato
Addolorata. A parish, located in the Borgo Ala quarter to the east of the old city walls, founded in 1802 as SS. Crocifisso e B.V. Addolorata. The church had been built in the previous century for the lay confraternity of SS. Crocifisso e B.V. Addolorata, founded in 1614 and the custodians of the ‘Entierro’, a Good Friday devotional tradition. Designed by Francesco Ottavio Magnocavalli, the church contains wooden statues of the crucifixion and of the Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows) by the sculptor Felice Cassini. The parish’s name was changed to Addolorata in 1987.
Assunzione di Maria Vergine (Oltreponte). The parish church, located in a suburb of Casale to the north of the Po which developed after the Second World War, was built in 1959.[8]
Castello. A former parish (still extant in the 1830s) served by Nostra Donna della Concezione: a small church founded in 1623 and used by the castle’s garrison.[9]
Cuore Immacolato di Maria
Sacro Cuore di Gesù
S. Clemente (Rolasco)
S. Domenico
Sant’Evasio
S. Germano (San Germano). The collegiate church of San Germano was parished in 1578. It was rebuilt in 1780 on a new site, and on a larger scale, to a design by Magnocavalli.[9]
S. Giacomo Apostolo (Terranova)
S. Giovanni Battista (Casale Popolo)
Sant’Ilario, parish erected in 1520.[10]
Patrocinio di S. Giuseppe (Roncaglia)
S. Maria degli Angeli (Santa Maria del Tempio)
Natività di Maria Santissima (Grangia di Gazzo). Of unknown antiquity, but certainly created before it passed from the diocese of Vercelli to that of Casale in 1574, the parish was united with that of Terranova in 1872.[11]
Santi Maria e Carlo
Santo Stefano. The parish was erected a little before 1500.[12]
Spirito Santo
Castelletto Merli
S. Eusebio
Castelletto Monferrato
S. Siro
Cella Monte
Santi Quirico e Giulitta
Cereseto Monferrato
S. Pietro Apostolo
Cerrina Monferrato
Natività di Maria Vergine (Montalero)
S. Candido (Montaldo)
Santi Nazario e Celso
Coniolo
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Conzano
S. Lucia
S. Maurizio (San Maurizio)
Cuccaro Monferrato
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Frassinello Monferrato
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Frassineto Po
S. Ambrogio
Fubine
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Gabiano
S. Carpoforo (Cantavenna)
S. Pietro Apostolo
Santi Aurelio e Eusebio (Varengo)
Giarole
S. Pietro Apostolo
Lu
S. Valerio
Mirabello Monferrato
S. Vincenzo
Mombello Monferrato
S. Bononio Abate (Pozzengo)
Santi Pietro e Anna
Santo Spirito (Casalino)
Moncestino
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Morano sul Po
S. Giovanni Battista
Murisengo
Natività di Maria Vergine (Sorina)
S. Antonio Abate
S. Candido (S. Candido)
Occimiano
S. Valerio
Odalengo Grande
S. Quirico
Odalengo Piccolo
Santi Maria e Pietro Apostolo
Olivola
S. Pietro Apostolo
Ottiglio
Santi Eusebio e Germano
Ozzano Monferrato
S. Salvatore
Pomaro Monferrato
S. Sabina
Pontestura
S. Agata
Natività di Maria Vergine (Quarti)
Ponzano Monferrato
S. Antonio Abate (Salabue)
S. Giovanni Battista
Rosignano Monferrato
S. Giacomo Apostolo (Stevani)
S. Martino (San Martino)
S. Vittore Martire
Sala Monferrato
Natività di Maria Vergine
San Giorgio Monferrato
S. Giorgio
San Salvatore Monferrato
S. Anna (Fosseto)
Santi Martino e Siro
Serralunga di Crea
Madonna di Crea
Solonghello
Santi Andrea e Eusebio
Terruggia
S. Martino
Ticineto
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Treville
S. Ambrogio
Valenza
S. Agata (Villabella)
Valmacca
Natività di Maria Vergine
Vignale Monferrato
S. Bartolomeo
Villadeati
S. Giorgio (Zanco)
Santi Remigio e Grato
Villamiroglio
S. Stefano (Vallegioliti)
Santi Filippo e Michele
Villanova Monferrato
S. Emiliano

Province of Asti

Calliano
S. Desiderio (S. Desiderio)
SS. Nome di Maria
Casorzo
S. Vincenzo
Cocconato
S. Maria della Consolazione
Cortiglione
S. Eusebio
Grana
Assunzione di Maria Vergine
Grazzano Badoglio
Santi Vittore e Corona
Moncalvo
S. Antonio di Padova
Montemagno
Santi Martino e Stefano
Montiglio Monferrato
S. Anna (Sant’Anna)
Santi Antonio e Giacomo (Carboneri)
S. Lorenzo
S. Maria (Scandeluzza)
S. Vittore (Colcavagno)
Moransengo
Santi Agata e Vitale
Penango
S. Grato
S. Vittore (Cioccaro)
Robella
S. Giacomo
Tonco
Santi Maria e Giuseppe
Tonengo
Concezione Immacolata di Maria Vergine

Province of Turin

Brozolo
S. Giorgio
Brusasco
S. Pietro Apostolo
S. Pietro Apostolo (Marcorengo)
Cavagnolo
Santi Eusebio e Secondo
Monteu da Po
S. Giovanni Battista
Rivalba
S. Rocco
Verrua Savoia
S. Giovanni Battista
Santi Sebastiano e Giacomo (Sulpiano)

Statistics

At the end of 2006 the diocese had a population of 103,900 of whom 97.7% had been baptised as Catholics.[13]

Year Population Priests Deacons Religious Parishes
  baptised total % number secular regular baptised
per priest
  men women  
1949 138,268 138,358 99.9 385 256 129 359 140 670 146
1959 133,482 349 241 108 382 180 635 146
1970 128,750 129,000 99.8 266 188 78 484 108 505 147
1980 118,300 119,000 99.4 191 148 43 619 1 55 332 148
1990 107,000 109,217 98.0 165 124 41 648 8 49 230 115
1999 102,500 104,900 97.7 135 106 29 759 8 33 165 115
2000 102,500 105,100 97.5 132 103 29 776 9 35 159 115
2001 102,450 105,080 97.5 128 100 28 800 12 34 163 115
2002 101,700 104,058 97.7 126 96 30 807 13 34 160 115
2003 101,700 104,000 97.8 127 98 29 800 13 33 150 115
2004 101,200 103,500 97.8 129 100 29 784 12 33 145 115
2006 101,500 103,900 97.7 125 97 28 812 13 32 149 115

References

Footnotes

  1. History section taken originally from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Casale Monferrato which is unfortunately strewn with errors.
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  3. ‘Alfiano Natta’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
  4. ‘Altavilla Monferrato’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
  5. ‘Franchini’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
  6. ‘Balzola’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
  7. ‘Borgo San Martino’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
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  11. ‘Terranova’, MonferratoArte. A databank established by the Associazione Casalese Arte e Storia as an amplified version of C. Aletto, Chiese extraurbane della Diocesi di Casale Monferrato: repertorio storico-biografico degli edifici di culto (San Salvatore Monferrato: 2006).
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  13. *Annuario pontificio for the years up to 2007 as reported by www.catholic-hierarchy.org on the page [1]

External links

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Official site of the Diocese of Casale Monferrato
  • La Vita Casalese (Italian) Weekly newspaper with web supplement offering news and comment on the Diocese of Casale Monferrato, published by Editrice Fondazione Sant'Evasio - Casale Monf. (AL)
  • MonferratoArte (Italian) A historical and bibliographical directory of artists active in the extra-urban churches of the Diocese of Casale Monferrato.

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