Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato


The Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Liguria, northern Italy, created in 1929. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa.
The historic diocese of Luni was united to the Diocese of Sarzana in 1465, and then to the Diocese of Brugnato in 1820, to form the current diocese; its name has been changed more than once. The diocese of La Spezia was created on 12 January 1929 by Pope Pius XI, into which he incorporated the diocese of Luni-Sarzana and Brugnato. The title of Luni was dropped from the name of the diocese on 12 August 1975, which became La Spezia, Sarzana and Brugnato. The name was hyphenated in 1986. The name Luni has been reserved since 1975 as the title of a titular diocese.
The current bishop is Msgr Luigi Palletti who was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on October 20, 2012.

History

The Luni of the Ligurian coast is sometimes confused. It was the Luni in Tuscany near Magra, and another Luni was located near Blera. An alleged early bishop of the 4th century named Basilius has no documentary support. The same may be said of a Salorius. A real Bishop Felix, who attended the Roman synod of Pope Hilarius belongs to c. 465.
The episcopal see of Luni dates at least from the fifth century. In the late sixth century are found Bishop Terentius and Bishop Venantius, the recipient of a number of mandates of Gregory the Great. Under Bishop Felerandus, in the 8th century, the purported relic of the Blood of Christ is said to have been brought to Luni.
In 641 the town of Luni was attacked by the Lombard king Rothari, who had the houses, walls, and towers destroyed. The inhabitants fled. When Rothari departed, the survivors returned and rebuilt, but in 849 the Saracens attacked and destroyed virtually everything. Recovery was assisted by the Carolingians and then the Ottonians. Bishop Ceccardus was murdered by barbarians. The Saracens returned in 1016 and again wrought complete devastation. On 26 May 1133 Pope Innocent II removed the territory of Brugnato from the diocese of Luni and erected it into a separate diocese.

Move to Sarzana

On 30 June 1183, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa granted Bishop Pietro the county of Luni, the shoreline, and the port of Amelia.
Bishop Walterius and the magistrates of Sarzana engaged in extensive consultations to make explicit all of their mutual rights and obligations as the Bishop moved his official seat to Sarzana, where in fact the bishops had been living for some time. The pact was signed on 24 June 1201. Bishop Walterius and the Canons of the Cathedral also negotiated a pact, which was approved by Pope Innocent III on 7 March 1202 in the bull In eminenti sedis.
On 25 March 1204, Pope Innocent III confirmed the transfer of the seat of the diocese of Luni to the town of Sarzana. In 1217, Pope Honorius III removed the territory of Porto Venere from the diocese of Luni and assigned it to Genoa.
When Luni was abandoned, the episcopal see was fixed at Sarzana, then at Sarzanello, and finally at Castelnuovo.
In October 1254, Bishop Guglielmo approved the transfer to Nicolò Fieschi the castles of Tivegna and Castiglione, and the woods of Padivarmo; the grants were confirmed in the same month by Pope Innocent IV. In June 1257, Pope Alexander IV authorized Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi of Genoa, the nephew of Pope Innocent IV, to act as judge in all pending and future cases involving litigation between the bishop of Luni and the commune of Sarzana. On 4 June 1259, the Podestà and councilors of Sarzana to represent them in litigation with the Bishop of Luni before Cardinal Ottobono. On 30 July 1260, Cardinal Ottobono found in favor of Bishop Marsucco.
In 1306 Dante went to Sarzana, and succeeded in settling a dispute between Bishop Antonio Camulla and the Marchese Franceschino Malaspina, the most important of the diocese's vassals. The poet's sojourn here inspired a few terzine of the Divine Comedy.
On 13 February 1355 Emperor Charles IV conferred on the bishops of Luni the title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Antonio M. Parentuccelli, a cousin of Pope Nicholas V, built the episcopal palace and the church of S. Maria delle Grazie.

Cathedral and Chapter

The original cathedral in Luni had been dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In December 1187, Pope Gregory VIII granted the petition of the Bishop and Canons of Luni to transfer the episcopal seat to Sarzana, but he died before the transaction could be completed. The transfer was finally accomplished with the consent of Innocent III in 1204. The Cathedral church in Sarzana was dedicated to S. Basilio, and later to the Assumption of the Body of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.
The Chapter of the Cathedral was composed of two dignities, the Archdeacon and the Provost, and twenty Canons. In addition, there was a Theological Prebend and a Penitentiary Prebend. In 1709 there were only thirteen Canons; in 1757 there were fourteen.

Synods

A diocesan synod was an irregular but important meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See.
Bishop Thomas de Benedictis presided over a diocesan synod in 1494.
Cardinal Benedetto Lomellini held a diocesan synod. A synod was held by Bishop Giovanni Battista Bracelli on 12 September 1582. Bishop Giovanni Battista Salvago held his first diocesan synod in 1591; at this synod association between Christians and Jews was prohibited, and it was demanded that Jews wear a garment of yellow to identify them. His second synod took place in 1595, and his third in 1596.
On 4 May 1642, Bishop Prospero Spínola presided at a diocesan synod. Bishop Giovanni Battista Spínola held a diocesan synod on 8–10 April 1674.
In 1702 Bishop Giovanni Girolamo Naselli presided over a diocesan synod. On 6–8 June 1717, Bishop Ambrogio Spinola held a diocesan synod.

Seminary

The Council of Trent, in its 23rd Session, meeting on 15 July 1563, issued a decree, the 18th chapter of which required that every diocese have a seminary for the training of clergy.
On 6 September 1601, the Canons of the Cathedral named a representative to the committee to prepare the plans of the seminary which had been ordered by Bishop Salvago in his diocesan synod of 1595. It was erected on the north side of the cathedral property. In 1605 the Bishop was able to report to the pope that a seminary had been erected. In accordance with the decisions of his synod of 1717, Bishop Ambrogio Spinola repaired and enlarged the building. Bishop Francesco Agnini erected the chapel and donated his library of 2,000 volumes.

Nineteenth Century

In 1787 the diocese of Pontremoli, and in 1821 the diocese of Massa Ducale were separated from Luni-Sarzana, but the diocese of Brugnato, separated from Luni by Pope Innocent II in 1133, was added by Pope Pius VII on 25 November 1820 in the Bull Sollicita. The diocese of Luni-Sarzana was directly subject to the Holy See, but Brugnato was a suffragan of Genoa.
Pope Pius VI died in exile and imprisoned by the French Directory at Valence in August 1799. When the Directory had been overthrown, and in 1802, with the permission of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, the Pope's remains were being returned to Rome, the funeral cortege passed through Sarzana. On 2 February a solemn funeral Mass was sung in the Cathedral by Archbishop Giuseppe Maria Spina, who had accompanied Pius throughout his ordeal.

Bishops

Diocese of Luni

United: 25 November 1820 with the Diocese of Brugnato
Name Changed: 12 January 1929
Latin Name: Lunensis o Spediensis, Sarzanensis, et Brugnatensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Genoa
The diocese has 186 parishes, all within the Province of La Spezia in Liguria.

Books

Studies