Roman Catholic Diocese of Saluzzo


The Diocese of Saluzzo is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, centered in the comune of Saluzzo. The diocese was established on 29 October 1511, and was directly dependent upon the Holy See. It is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Turin.

History

The diocese of Saluzzo was established by Pope Julius II on 29 October 1511, in his bull Pro excellenti.
The church selected for the new cathedral had formerly been the Church of S. Maria Assunta. In 1481 Count Lodovico II prevailed upon Pope Sixtus IV to establish the church as a Collegiate Church, headed by a Dean and six dignities, with twelve Canons. The canonical establishment of the Collegiate Church was carried out by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere on 21 January 1483. As a cathedral, it was staffed by a Cathedral Chapter, which consisted of six dignities and twelve additional Canons. The new Chapter collected its various regulations into a Statute book, which was confirmed by the new Bishop on 3 November 1516
A diocesan synod was opened on 3 August 1516 by Bishop Giuliano Tornabuoni. A set of statutes, containing eighty-seven clauses, was issued. Tornabuoni then went to Rome, to have Pope Leo X rule on some questions about civil and religious jurisdiction in the diocese of Saluzzo. But on 22 October 1517 he had already been appointed Castellan of the Castel S. Angelo, which required his continuing presence in Rome; he was still Castellan on 19 October 1521, according to the records of the Chapter of the cathedral of Saluzzo. Saluzzo was governed by his Vicar General, Filippo de Pistorio, and episcopal functions were delegated to Antonio Vacca, the titular Bishop of Nicomedia.
In 1522 the duchy of Saluzzo was attacked by forces of the Emperor Charles V, led by Pompeo Colonna, who were planning to invade Provence. The ducal family was forced to flee, and the town of Saluzzo was taken by the lances of the imperial army. In 1523 and again in 1525 the Marquisate was stricken by the plague. And on 20 February 1525 the whole of Piedmont suffered two large earthquakes.
A diocesan synod, the fifteenth, was held on 5—7 October 1954 by Bishop Egidio Luigi Lanza.

Bishops of Saluzzo

from 1511 to 1698

Ninety of the diocese’s 91 parishes are in the province of Cuneo in south-west Piedmont; the last is in the neighbouring province of Turin.

Studies