Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli

The Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli (Latin: Dioecesis Massensis-Apuana) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church situated in north-western Tuscany, in the valley of the Frigido River. The city of Massa is on the south side of the river, 5 km (3 mi) from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city of Carrara is 6 km (4 mi) north of Massa, on the Carrione River. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa.

Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli

Dioecesis Massensis-Apuana
Massa Cathedral
Location
CountryItaly
Ecclesiastical provincePisa
Statistics
Area1,186 km2 (458 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2021)
207,050 (est.)
203,500 (guess)
Parishes244
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established18 February 1822 (201 years ago)
CathedralBasilica Cattedrale di S. Pietro Apostolo e S. Francesco d’Assisi (Massa)
Co-cathedralConcattedrale di S. Maria Assunta (Pontremoli)
Secular priests107 (Diocesan)
18 (Religious Orders)
28 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopMario Vaccari, O.F.M.
Bishops emeritusGiovanni Santucci
Eugenio Binini
Map
Website
massacarrara.chiesacattolica.it

The historical Diocese of Massa Carrara had its name changed in 1939 to Diocese of Apuania; and again in 1986 to Diocese of Massa. In 1988 it was united with the Diocese of Pontremoli.[1][2]

History

The see of Massa Carrara was created on 18 February 1822 by Pope Pius VII, at the instance of Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa, in the bull "Singularis Romanorum".[3] The collegiate church of S. Pietro e Francesco was suppressed, and the church was elevated to the status of cathedral of the new diocese and a parish church.[4] The cathedral was to be staffed and administered by a corporation called the Chapter, consisting of an archpriest and twelve canons. The archpriest was to act as the pastor of the cathedral parish.[5]

An episcopal palace, which had been his "Pallazina", was donated to the diocese by Duke Francesco IV.[6]

The diocese was then suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa; but for a period from 22 August 1855 to 1926 it was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Modena.[7]

Its first bishop was Francesco Maria Zoppi.[8] The second bishop, Francesco Strani, held the first diocesan synod in the cathedral in Massa in September 1839.[9]

On 18 November 1900, Bishop Emilio Miniati of Massa and Bishop Angelo Fiorini of Pontremoli reached an agreement to transfer sixteen parishes from the diocese of Pontremoli to Massa. The agreement was ratified by Pope Leo XIII on 9 January 1901.[10]

On 16 December 1938, the Fascist government of Italy ordered the amalgamation of three cities, Massa, Carrara, and Montignoso, into one comune, called Apuania, in a province also called Apuania. The Vatican had no option but to change the name of the diocese of Massa to conform with civil requirments; this took place on 20 July 1939. On 10 January 1946, a legal decree of the Italian government restored the former names.[11] The Vatican, however, continued to use "Apuania".

On 18 November 1964, the cathedral of Ss. Peter the Apostle and Francis of Assisi in Massa (still called Apuania) was granted the title and privileges of a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI.[12]

By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops on 30 September 1986, with the approval of Pope John Paul II, the name of the diocese was changed from "Dioecesis Apuanus" to "Diocese Massanensis". This, in effect, cancelled the papal degree of 20 July 1939, so that the name of the diocese and the name of the city in which the bishop's seat was located should be the same.[13]

On 5 September 1992, the Congregation of Bishops removed a number of parishes from the diocese of Massa-Apuana (including the Garfagnana) and attached them to the diocese of Lucca.[14]

Bishops

Diocese of Massa

Erected: 18 February 1822
Latin Name: Massensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Pisa

  • Francesco Maria Zoppi (17 Nov 1823 – 1 Oct 1832 Resigned)[15]
  • Francesco Strani (23 Jun 1834 – 16 Dec 1855)[16]
  • Giacomo Bernardi (16 Jun 1856 – 23 Dec 1871)[17]
  • Giovanni Battista Alessio Tommasi (6 May 1872 – 7 Aug 1887)
  • Amilcare Tonietti (25 Nov 1887 – 1893)[18]
  • Emilio Maria Miniati (18 May 1894 – 29 Apr 1909 Resigned)[19]
  • Giovanni Battista Marenco, S.D.B. (29 Apr 1909 – 1917)[20]
  • Giuseppe Bertazzoni (30 Jun 1917 – 2 Jul 1933)
  • Cristoforo Arduino Terzi, O.F.M. (11 May 1934 – 10 Jul 1945 Resigned)

Diocese of Apuania

Name Changed: 20 July 1939
Latin Name: Apuaniensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Pisa

  • Carlo Boiardi (30 Oct 1945 – 24 Feb 1970)
  • Aldo Forzoni (23 Apr 1970 – 23 Feb 1988 Retired)

Diocese of Massa

Name Changed: 30 September 1986
Latin Name: Massensis

  • Aldo Forzoni (23 Apr 1970 – 23 Feb 1988 Retired)
Co-cathedral in Pontremoli

Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli

United: 23 February 1988 with the Diocese of Pontremoli
Latin Name: Massensis-Apuanus
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Pisa

  • Bruno Tommasi (23 Feb 1988 – 1991)[21]
  • Eugenio Binini (20 Jul 1991 – 19 May 2010 Retired)
  • Giovanni Santucci (19 May 2010 – January 2021 Resigned)[22][23]
  • Gianni Ambrosio (Apostolic administrator, 15 January 2021 –)[24]

Notes and references
  1. "Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  2. "Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  3. Pius VII, Bullarii Romani Continuatio, (in Latin), Vol. 15, pp. 395-398. Cappelletti XV, pp. 414-420.
  4. Bullarii Romani Continuatio, Vol. 15, p. 395 § 3.
  5. Bullarii Romani Continuatio, Vol. 15, p. 396 § 4.
  6. Bullarii Romani Continuatio, Vol. 15, p. 396 § 6.
  7. Cappelletti XV, p. 421. Umberto Benigni, "Massa Carrara", in: The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1913); retrieved 14 June 2023.
  8. [Giulio Arrigoni], Cenni biografici intorno a monsignor Francesco Maria Zoppe, primo vescovo di Massa e Carrara, poi vescovo in partibus di Gerra, (in Italian), Milano: Boniardi-Pogliani 1847.
  9. Francesco Strani, Prima Synodus Dioecesana Massensis ab Ill. mo ac Rev. mo D.D. Episcopo Francisco Strani habita in ecclesia cathedrali Diebus 10 11 12 Septembris MDCCCXXXIX. (in Latin) Modena: Fratres Frediani Ducales typographi 1840.
  10. Arnaldo Nesti, Alle radici della Toscana contemporanea: vita religiosa e società dalla fine dell'Ottocento al crollo della mezzadria (in Italian), (Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2008), p. 764. Archivio storico per le province Parmensi, (Deputazione de storia patria per le province parmensi, 1987), p. 170.
  11. Giuseppe Morandini, (1948), "Apuania," (in Italian), in: Enciclopedia Italiana II Appendice (1948).
  12. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 57 (Città del Vaticano 1965), pp. 713-714.
  13. Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 643-644, "ut denominatio dioecesium complecteretur nomen urbis in qua sita est Ecclesia Cathedralis, hoc est nomen sedis dioecesis."
  14. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 85 (1993), pp. 205-212.
  15. Zoppi was born in Canobbio (diocese of Milan) in 1765. He was educated at the seminary of S. Carlo, and then in Pavia, where he became a Doctor of Theology and a Doctor of Canon Law. (De-Vit, p. 382). Archbishop Filippo Visconti made him Vicar of the valli Leventina, Blenio and Riviera, and was parish priest of S. Pietro in Camminadella. Upon resignation, Zoppi was appointed titular Bishop of Geras. He died on 7 April 1841. Vincenzo De-Vit, Il lago Maggiore, Stresa e le isole Borromee: notizie storiche, (in Italian), Volume 2, part 1 (Prato: A.F. Alberghetti, 1877), pp. 382-385. Teodoro Bayard de Volo, Vita di Francesco V., duca di Modena: 1819-1875, (in Italian), (Tip. dell'Imm. Concezione, 1885), pp. 175-178. Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, pp. 202, 256.
  16. Strani: Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VII, p. 256. Camaiani, p. 714.
  17. Bernardi was born at Sant'Anna Pelago (Modena) in 1799. He held the degrees of Doctor of Theology and Doctor in utroque iure. He was appointed bishop of Massa by Pope Pius IX on 16 June 1856. He died on 23 December 1871. Camaiani, p. 698.
  18. Tonetti was the son of a sea captain. In 1889, Bishop Tonietti became a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He was a vigorous supporter of Leo XIII and his encyclical "Rerum Novarum". On 12 June 1893, Bishop Tonietti was appointed Bishop of Montalcino, which he resigned in 1899. He died on 22 March 1927, as titular archbishop of Tyana (Turkey). Francesco Morano, Atti della Pontificia Accademia delle scienze nuovi Lincei, Volumes 80-81 (Roma: L'Accademia, 1927), pp. 320-321. Lenzo Lenzi, "La Rerum Novarum e la Toscana," (in Italian), in: Gabriele De Rosa (ed.), I tempi della Rerum novarum, (Rubbettino Editore, 2002), p. 523. Franco Ghersini, Un vescovo nella bufera massonica: Mons. Amilcare Tonietti, 1847-1927, (in Italian) Brescia: Istituto di cultura G. De Luca per la storia del prete, 2004.
  19. A native of Florence, born in 1839,0 Miniati held a doctorate in theology, and was Canon Penitentiary in the cathedral, and pro-Vicar-General. He resigned the diocese of Massa in 1909, and was appointed titular bishop of Stratonicaea, Caria (Turkey). Maria Letizia Menconi, Mons. Emilio Maria Miniati, sesto vescovo della diocesi di Massa-Carrara, (1894-1909): tesi di laurea (in Italian). 2000.
  20. On 7 January 1917, Bishop Marenco was appointed Titular Archbishop of Edessa in Macedonia, to qualify him as papal Internuncio and Apostolic Delegate in various countries in Central America. He died in Costa Rica in 1921. Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 9 (Rome 1917), p. 158.
  21. On 20 March 1991, Bishop Tommasi was appointed Archbishop of Lucca by Pope John Paul II.
  22. "S.Messa di saluto a mons. Santucci". Diocesi di Massa Carrara-Pontremoli. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  23. Giuffrida, Angela (3 February 2022). "Village priest 'Don Eur' jailed for extortion after sex worker blew whistle". The Guardian.
  24. "Biografia del vescovo Gianni". Diocesi di Massa Carrara-Pontremoli (in Italian). Retrieved 3 February 2022.

Bibliography

Reference works for bishops

Studies
  • Camaiani, Bruna Bocchini (1994), "I vescovi toscani nel periodo lorense," (in Italian), in: Istituzioni e societa in Toscana nell'eta moderna. Atti delle giornate di studio dedicate a Giuseppe Pansini Firenze 4-5 dicembre 1992 (Roma: Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientale 1994), pp. 681-716.
  • Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1859). Le chiese d'Italia: dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Vol. Tomo decimoquinto (15). Venezia: G. Antonelli. pp. 411–424.


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