Diocese of Patti

The Diocese of Patti () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located on the north shore of the island of Sicily. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela.David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Diocese of Patti"; retrieved February 29, 2016.. Gabriel Chow, GCatholic.org, "Diocese of Patti"; retrieved February 29, 2016. Its patron saint is Bartholomew the Apostle, in whose honor the cathedral is named.

Geography

The diocese includes the city of Patti and 41 other communes of the civil province of Messina.The communes are: Acquedolci, Alcara Li Fusi, Brolo, Capizzi, Capo d'Orlando, Capri Leone, Caronia, Castel di Lucio, Castell'Umberto, Cesarò, Ficarra, Floresta, Frazzanò, Galati Mamertino, Gioiosa Marea, Librizzi, Longi, Militello Rosmarino, Mirto, Mistretta, Montagnareale, Motta d'Affermo, Naso, Oliveri, Pettineo, Piraino, Raccuja, Reitano, San Fratello, San Marco d'Alunzio, San Piero Patti, San Salvatore di Fitalia, San Teodoro, Sant'Agata di Militello, Sant'Angelo di Brolo, Santo Stefano di Camastra, Sinagra, Torrenova, Tortorici, Tusa and Ucria. The natural borders of the diocese are the Tyrrhenian Belt which goes from Oliveri to Tusa, for a length of about 102 kilometres, and the Nebrodi mountain range.

History

Diocese of Tyndaris The diocese of Patti had an ancient precursor, the diocese of Tyndaris, now a small hamlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea 7 km east of Patti.Savagnone, p. 71. Kehr, pp. 360-361. Four of its bishops are known by name: Severinus (501)Kehr, p. 360. Eutychius (593)Eutychius wrote to Pope Gregory I, asking for aid against certain worshippers of idols and against 'Angelli'. Gregory replied that he had referred the matter to the Praetor of Sicily. P. Jaffe, Regesta pontificum Romanorum Vol. I, editio altera (Leipzig 1885), p. 158, no. 1263 (August 593). Kehr, p. 360 Benenatus (599)Lanzoni, p. 650. Jaffe, p. 195, no. 1707 (July 1599). Kehr, p. 360 Theodorus (649).

The Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) removed the dioceses of Sicily, including Tyndaris, from Roman control and made them suffragans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and immediately subject to the metropolitan of Syracuse.Kehr, pp. 360, 362. In the mid-9th (or 10th) century, Basil of IalimbanaAndreas Kuelzer, in: Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek Tradition and its Many Heirs, (ed. Paul T. Keyser; Georgia L. Irby-Massie) (New York: Routledge 2008), s. v. "Georgios of Cyprus (600–620)". Ernest Honigmann, "Die Notitia des Basileios von Ialimbana," Byzantion 9 (1934), 205-222. revised the geography of George of Cyprus with the addition of a Notitia episcopuum, in which the diocese appears as a suffragan of Syracuse.H. Gelzer, Georgius Cyprius (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner 1890), p. 30.

Patti

The importance of Patti grew, however, when Duke Robert Guiscard and Count Roger I founded on the island of Lipari Patti a Benedictine abbey, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, in c. 1085;Pirro, p. 770. the abbey was joined to the Abbey of S. Salvatore when it was founded in 1094.The charters are quoted by Pirro, pp. 770-772.

On 14 September 1131 Anacletus II, the pope from the double election of 1130 who was recognized in Rome and in the Kingdom of Sicily, made the monastery of S. Bartholomew in Patti an episcopal see, and at the same time made the Abbey of Lipari an episcopal seat, uniting them in the person of one bishop, who would be suffragan of and consecrated by the Archbishop of Messana. The text of Pope Anacletus' bull is given in full in Pirro, pp. 387-388; and see pp. 770-771. Kehr, p. 357, no. 4 The new See was endowed by King Roger II of Sicily, making it richer than the long established See of Syracuse. Pope Eugenius III in 1157 confirmed the action of Anacletus II.

Pope Lucius III, in 1183 and again in 1184, confirmed the subordination of the dioceses of Cefalù and Patti to the archbishopric of Messina.Kehr, p. 358, nos. 6 and 7.

In 1206, it lost territory to establish the territorial prelature of Santa Lucia del Mela.D'Avino, p. 613.

In October 1229, the Emperor Frederick II, on the petition of Bishop Paganus of Patti, confirmed all the possessions and privileges of the diocese.Eduard Winkelmann, Acta imperii inedita seculi XIII et XIV, Volume 1 (Innsbruck: Wagner 1880), pp. 274-275, no. 305.

Chapter and cathedral The Cathedral of S. Bartolommeo in Patti was originally served by Benedictine monks, down to 1649, who came to form the cathedral Chapter. It originally consisted of five dignities (the Prior, the Archdeacon, the Cantor, the Treasurer, and the Sacristan)Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 52 (Venice: Emiliana 1851), p. 13, col. 2. and eight canons. In 1604, Bishop Bonaventura Secusio, in the belief that the number of canons was too small for the dignity of his cathedral, added two more canons.De Ciocchis, p. 8. The cathedral Chapter was secularized in 1649, by a decree of Pope Innocent X.De Ciocchis, p. 9. Later, in 1693, it had a Chapter consisting of five dignities and nine canons; in 1753, the number of canons had grown to eighteen.Ritzler, V, p. 302 note 1; VI, p. 324, note 1.

Frederick III of Sicily (1295–1337) devastated Patti because the town was a supporter of his Angevin rivals, Robert and Philip of Naples.Cappelletti, p. 581. The French Pope John XXII, who supported the Angevins, laid all of Sicily under an interdict, which lasted from 1321 to 1335, causing severe problems between the Sicilian episcopate and the monarchy.

On 18 April 1399, Lipari and Patti were separated, and the first bishop of the separate see of Patti was Francesco Hermemir. His predecessor, Francesco Gaptulus, continued as Bishop of Lipari.The text of the bull of Boniface IX is given by Pirro, p. 782. Eubel, I, p. 384 note 11.

The diocese was small, having only five communities in itJojusa Guardiac, Libritium, Montanea Realis, SS. Salvator and Surrentini besides the capital. In 1416, the city of Patti is recorded as having a population of 2682. The entire diocese had 8,986 inhabitants.Giovanni Angelo De Ciocchis Sacrae regiae visitationis per Siciliam a Joanne-Ang. De Ciocchis, Caroli III. regis jussu acta decretaque omnia: Vol II: Vallis Nemorum, Palermo: Ex typographia Diarii literarii, 1836), p. 2.

Synods In 1536, Bishop Arnaldo Albertini (1534–1544) held a diocesan synod.Savagnone, pp. 132-135. Bishop Bartolomé Sebastián de Aroitia (1549–1567) held a diocesan synod on 26 January 1567.Savagnone, p. 146. On 27–28 August 1584, Bishop Gilberto Isfar y Corillas (1579–1600) presided over a diocesan synod in the cathedral of Saint Bartholomew in Patti.Constitutiones Synodales ad ecclesiasticam, & christianam disciplinam pertinentes illustrissimi, & reuerendissimi domini, Don Giliberti episcopi Pactensis. In dioecesana Synodo promulgatae anno Domini 1584. Adiectus est appendix constitutionum canonicorum cathedralis ecclesiae S. Bartholomaei & aliorum regularium quae simul in eadem Synodo promulgatae sunt. Palermo: apud Ioannem Franciscum Carraram, 1584). Savagnone, pp. 151-152. Bishop Matteo Fazio, O.P. (1682–1692) held a diocesan synod on 30 November–2 December 1687, and published the constitutions.Giovan Domenico Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima Volume 36, part 3 (Arnhem/Leipzig: H. Welter, 1924), p. 515. Savagnone, p. 181.

Seminary Following the conclusion of the Council of Trent in 1563, King Philip II of Spain, who was also king of Sicily, ordered the implementation of its decrees, in particular for the establishment of seminaries. He ordered his royal Visitor, Francisco Puteo, to carry out his order, which the Visitor conveyed to the Church of Patti. The bishop obeyed the mandates, and began the erection. On 15 March 1588, the king assigned the revenues of the feud of Rocca and of Valdina to the seminary. Grdually the seminary received additions from various donors, to the sum of 144 ounces.Savagnone, pp. 66-67.

At the Visitation of 1742, it was recorded that the seminary Rector was a Dominican, and that there were eleven clerical seminarians from the diocese and eight from outside the diocese. In addition to the liberal arts, the curriculum included civil law and canon law, liturgy, singing (chant), ecclesistical history, and "computi ecclesistici."Savagnone, p. 68.

On 20 May 1844 the diocese exchanged territory with the bishopric of Cefalù.Gregory XVI, bull "In Suprema", in: Acta Gregorii Papae XVI Vol. 3: Pars Prima Canonica (Roma: Typographia Polyglotta 1902), p. 353: "...dioecesi Pactensi illa, quae nominantur: Mistretta, Tusa, S. Stefano di Camastra , Motta d'Affermo, Castelluccio, Pettineo, Reitano, Capizzi, Cesarò, S. Teodoro...."

The diocese had in the early 20th century 49 parishes, 20,000 inhabitants, 5 religious houses of men, and 15 of sisters, conducting 4 institutes for girls and several schools.

Pope John Paul II visited the diocese in June 1988.

The church of the Santuario Maria Santissima di Tindari was granted the rank and privileges of a "minor basilica" in 2018 by Pope Francis.

See also Diocese of Lipari Territorial Prelature of Santa Lucia del Mela

Bishops Diocese of Patti Erected: 12th century

... Gilibertus (1157 – 1166)October 1164: "episcopus electus". Pirro, p. 776. Rodriquez, p. 281. Lynn White, Jr., Latin Monasticism in Norman Sicily, (Cambridge: Medieval Academy of America 1938), pp. 265, 96. Stephanus (1180 – 1199) Anselmus (c. 1208 – 12xx ?) Jacobus ( – 25 September 1225)Bishop Jacobus was transferred to the diocese of Capua on 27 September 1225 by Pope Honorius III. Frederick II forbade his entry into the diocese. Gams, p. 976. Eubel, I, p. 164, 384. Paganus (10 October 1229 – 3 March 1246)Paganus sensibly went to Frederick II and requested confirmation of his election to the diocese; it was granted on 10 October 1129. In February 1238, Bishop Paganus was in Turin, where he subscribed a document for Frederick II. Eduard Winkelmann, Acta imperii inedita seculi XIII et XIV, Volume 1 (Innsbruck: Wagner 1880), pp. 304-305, no. 344. Pirro, p. 777, no. VII. Eubel, I, p. 384. Philippus (attested 1250)Pirro, p. 227, quotes a document of December, 1250, which mentions a procurator of Bishop Philippus. Rodriquez, pp. 283-284.

Bartholomaeus de Lentino, O.P. (5 January 1254 – 1282)Eubel, I, p. 384. Pandulfus (25 February 1286 – 4 July 1290)Pandulfus was named bishop by Pope Honorius IV in 1286, but on 26 July 1289 he had still been unable to enter his diocese. Pandulfus, an exile from Sicily, was named Administrator of the diocese of Torres (Sassari) in Sardinia. In 1296 he was named to the See of Ancona. Pirro, p. 779. Gams, p. 840. Eubel, I, p. 87, 384, 504. Joannes, O.P. (1304 – 1342)A native of Catania, a Canon of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and archdeacon of Catania. Giovanni was appointed bishop by Boniface VIII on 31 January 1304. Pirro, p. 779, no. XII. Eubel, I, p. 384. Gams, p. 840, makes him a Franciscan. His letter of appointment mentions neither, only the canonicate: Charles Grandjean, Le registre de Benoît XI (Paris: E. Thorin 1884), pp. 298-300. Vincentius, O.Min. (27 November 1342 – 1346) Petrus de Teutonico, O.Min. Pirro, p. 779, no. XVI, quotes the letter of appointment of Pope Clement VI of 15 February 1346, calling him a Franciscan. Eubel, I, p. 384. (15 February 1346 – 21 January 1354) Petrus de Thomas, O.Carm.Petrus was transferred to the diocese of Corona, a suffragan of Patras in Greece, on 10 May 1359. Eubel, I, p. 212. (1354 – 10 May 1359) Joannes Graphei, O.Min. (17 July 1360 – 1373) Ubertinus de Coriliono, O.Min. (28 November 1373 – 1386)Bishop Ubertinus was removed by Urban VI. Eubel, I, p. 384. Franciscus, O.P. (30 May 1386 – 18 March 1388)Fra. Francesco was transferred to the diocese of Mazara by Urban VI. Eubel, I, pp. 332, 384.