The Archdiocese of Cagliari (; ) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church centred on the city of Cagliari. It holds the Primacy of Sardinia."Archdiocese of Cagliari" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved October 6, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagliari" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved October 6, 2016
History
Legend relates that a disciple of Jesus Christ, one Bonifatius, preached the Gospel in Cagliari in the 1st century. His body was said to have been found in the 17th century, with an inscription identifying it as Bonifacius. The inscription, however, is a forgery, as is the disciple himself.Lanzoni, p. 661.
There were probably bishops at Cagliari from an early date. Athanasius of Alexandria speaks of previous episcopal martyrs (during the Diocletian persecution most likely) in a letter to his contemporary, the first well-known bishop of Cagliari, Lucifer (354–370). Cagliari remained Roman Catholic despite the Arianism prevalent at the time and many African bishops fled the Arian Vandals to come to Cagliari.
In 626/627, Pope Honorius I summoned the bishop of Cagliari and some of his clergy to Rome, to discuss several pamphlets in circulation written against the bishop and clergy.Kehr, p. 405, no. 35. Pope Martin I (649–653) suspended the privilege granted to the bishop of Cagliari to consecrate the bishop of Torres (Sassari). Pope John V (685-686) reasserted the pope's right to consecrate the bishop of Torres.Kehr, p. 405, no. 36 and 37.
The earliest reference to the metropolitanate of Cagliari occurs in a letter of Pope Gregory I, dated July 599. The title "bishop" continues to be used.Kehr, pp. 376 no. 14; 402 no. 25; 394: "Metropolitana Caralitanae eccl. dignitas non prius quam in Gregorii I laudatur epistolis, qui pontifex suffraganeis illius debitam oboedientiam iniunxit rescripto eis directo (n.25) ; iura autem metropolitarum coercuerunt Martinus I et lohannes V."
At the time of the Second Council of Constantinople (681), Cagliari was already a metropolitan see. It has been suggested that in the 10th and 11th century as the giudicati of Sardinia became independent, the archbishop of Cagliari became the de facto theocratic ruler of the island through the Corona de Logu.
In 1075, Pope Gregory VII reproached Archbishop Giacomo for wearing a beard, a fashion which had been introduced into Sardinia at an earlier date; the pope asked the Judge Torchitorio I to oblige the clergy to abandon this custom.
Legateship and Primacy
Pope Urban II (1088–1099) granted the archbishops of Pisa the papal legateship over the Church in Sardinia.Kehr, Italia pontificia III, p. 321 no. 11.; X, p. 381 no. 10 This was confirmed by Pope Innocent II in a bull of 22 April 1138.Kehr X, p. 382, no. 40. The grant was also confirmed by Pope Eugenius III on 19 May 1146;Kehr X, p. 383 no. 42. by Pope Anastasius IV (1153/1154); by Pope Adrian IV (1157); and by Pope Alexander III (1162).Kehr X, pp. 383-384, nos. 45, 46, 47.
On 22 April 1138, Pope Innocent II named Archbishop Baldwin of Pisa the metropolitan of the dioceses of Galtelli and Civita in Sardinia, and appointed him the primate over the province of Torres (Sassari).Kehr, p. 232, no. 4. Klaus Ganzer, Die Entwickung des auswärtigen Kardinalats (Tübigen: Max Niemeyer 1962), pp. 90-91. The title of Primate of Sardinia appears for the first time in the false correspondence between Pope Victor III and Archbishop Giacomo (1075-1089): A. Carboni, L'epistola di Vittore III ai vescovi di Sardegna: Prova e storia di un falso, (Roma, 1960). Kehr, p. 321, no. †32. On 11 April 1176, Pope Alexander III confirmed for Archbishop Hubaldus of Pisa all the privileges granted to Archbishop Baldwin, and in addition to the primacy of Torres added the primacy of Cagliari and Arborea. These expanded privileges were confirmed by Lucius III in 1181, Urban III in 1186, Clement III in 1188, Celestine III in 1192, Innocent III in 1198, and Honorius III in 1216.Kehr X, p. 384, no. 50 with note. Archbishop Federico Visconti of Pisa (1254–1277), totius Sardiniae primas, visited Sardinia, for the purpose of exercising his Primacy, legation and right of visitation.Pietro Martini, Storia ecclesiastica di Sardegna Volume 2 (Cagliari: Stamperia reale 1840), p. 45: "caussa primatiae, legationis et visitationis officium exercendi.". In 1409 the title of Primas was reassumed by the Archbishop of Cagliari, Antoninus Dexart,Mattei, p. 98. Ambrosio Machin, Defensio sanctitatis beati Luciferi archiepiscopi Calaritani. Sardiniæ, & Corsicæ primatis, & aliorum sanctorum, quos colit Calaritana Ecclesia: Liber 2. Defensionis primatus archiepiscopi Calaritani, , (Cagliari: A. Galcerin 1639), p. 62: "Noverint universi quod nos Antonius Dei gratia Archiepiscopus Calaritanus, Primas Regni Sardiniae et Corsicae...." whence arose a controversy between those sees, which dragged on into the 20th century.
Territorial structure and changes
A memorandum in the Aragonese archives of the beginning of the 14th century details the ecclesiastical structure of the island. The archdiocese of Cagliari supervised the dioceses of Dolia, Sulcis, and Suelli "et est Pisanorum".Corrado Zedda & Raimondo Pinna La carta del giudice cagliaritano Orzocco Torchitorio, prova dell'attuazione del progetto gregoriano di riorganizzazione della giurisdizione ecclesiastica della Sardegna, , (Sassari: Todini 2009), p. 79.
In 1420, territory was added from the suppressed Diocese of Suelli.David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Diocese of Suelli;" retrieved: 1 January 2026.
On 11 September 1495, Pope Alexander VI suppressed the diocese of Galtelli"...archiepiscopali sedi Calaritanae ecclesiam episcopalem Galtellinensem subjective inivisse, atque inde citra Calaritanum archiepiscopalem utrique praefuisse ecclesiae." with the bull "Sacrosancta Romana Ecclesia", and its territory was united to the archdiocese of Cagliari.Kehr, p. 421. Tonino Cabizzosu, Ricerche socio-religiose sulla chiesa sarda tra '800 e '900, , Volume 1 (Cagliari: Edizioni della Torre, 1999), p. 322. Many others give the date 1496, based on the date given in Pope Pius VI's bull of 21 June 1779, "Eam Inter Caeteras", § 2,
In 1503, territory was added from the suppressed Diocese of Dolia.David M. Cheney, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, "Diocese of Dolia (Doglia);" retrieved 31 December 2025. P. Tola, Codex Diplomaticus Sardiniae Vol. 2 (Turin 1868), pp. 167-170.
By the end of the 15th century, the suffragan diocese of Sulcis was in trouble. The population of the town had nearly disappeared, and the bishop and cathedral canons had transferred their residences to Iglesias. This change was formalized by Pope Julius II in a bull of 8 December 1503.Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 71 (Venezia: Tip. Emiliana 1855), p. 34. Cappelletti, p. 90. On 7 July 1503, Pope Alexander VI had appointed Giovanni Pilares bishop of Sulcis or Iglesias.Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 244 with note 4. Due to the shortage of funds, Pope Julius planned to unite the diocese with the archdiocese of Cagliari, when the see became vacant."Sulcitan et Ecclesien": Eubel III, p. 306, note 1. Archbishop Pietro Pilares resigned the archbishopric on 9 January 1514, and Pope Leo X appointed Joannes Pilares his successor as archbishoip of Cagliari. Joannes was allowed to retain the diocese of Sulcis for life.Cappelletti, p. 90, states that Joannes Pilares held Sulcis as administrator. That arrangement continued for more than two centuries, until Pope Clement XIII issued the bull "Universi Christiani Populi" on 25 June 1763, restoring the diocese of Sulcis under the title of Iglesias. Iglesias was appointed a suffragan of Cagliari.Moroni, p. 34 column 2. Bullarii Romani Continuatio Vol. 3 (Prati: typ. Aldina 1842), pp. 767-768.
Archbishop Francisco Esquivel (1605–1624) established the diocesan clerical seminary 1622.Cappelletti, p. 68.
On 8 November 1824, territory was removed from the archdiocese of Cagliari to form the Diocese of Ogliastra.Bullarii Romani Continuatio Tomus VIII (Prati: Aldina 1854), p. 249, § 3.
On 25 March 1926, Pope Pius XI appointed Cardinal Gaetano Bisleti his papal legate for the ceremonies of the rededication of the church of Our Lady de bono aere in Bono. The pope also sent a gold crown, with which the statue of the Virgin was to be crowned.Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 18 (1926), pp. 302-303. On 25 April 1926, the church was declared a minor basilica.Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 18 (1926), pp. 376-377.
Pope Paul VI became the first Pope to visit Sardinia in 1,650 years when he made his visit to Cagliari Cathedral, which is a minor basilica. Pope John Paul II paid a visit later. Pope Benedict XVI visited in September 2008 while Pope Francis visited in 2013.
Bishops Diocese of Cagliari Latin Name: Calaritana Erected: 4th Century ?
... Quintasius (314)Quintasius: Lanzoni, p. 662-663, no. 2. Lanzoni, p. 663, indicates that Protogenes was a bishop of Sardica, not Sardinia. Lucifer (by 354–370)Bishop Lucifer was sent as papal ambassador to the Emperor Constantius II in 354. At the synod of Milan in 355, he had a confrontation with the emperor, who was seeking an accommodation between his Arianism and the Nicene bishops, and was exiled to Germanicia in Syria. When Constantius died in 361, Lucifer was liberated and attended the synod of Alexandria in 362. He died in 370. Lanzoni, pp. 663-664. His works: G. Hartel (ed.), Luciferi Caleritani opuscula (Vienna: C. Gerold 1886) [CSEL, XIV]. ... Lucifer (484)Lucifer (II): Lanzoni, p. 664. ... ? Thomas (591)Pope Gregory I wrote about a 'xenodochium Thomae quondam episcopi,' but it is not recorded which diocese had been Thomas'. Lanzoni, p. 666. Metropolitan Januarius ( 591–603)Pope Gregory I wrote regularly to bishop Januarius from 591 to 603. Lanzoni, p. 666. Kehr, pp. 395-404, nos. 2-32. Deodatus (d. 649)Deodatus (Deusdedit) attended the Roman council of Pope Martin I in 649. He died during the council. Mattei, p. 82. Kehr, p. 405, no. 36. Justinus (649)Mattei, pp. 82-83. Citonatus ( 680–685)Bishop Citonatus subscribed the decrees of the Second Council of Constantinople in 680–681. Mattei, pp. 83-84. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima Vol. 11 (Venice ), p. 687: "Citonatus indignus episcopus sanctae ecclesiae Calaritanae insulae Sardiniae pro me et synodo quae sub me est similiter subsignavi." ... Thomas (787)Bishop Thomas sent his deacon Epiphanius to the Second Council of Constantinople in 787. Mattei, pp. 84-85. Cappelletti, p. 56. Jean Darrouzès, "Listes épiscopales du concile de Nicée (787)," in: Revue des études byzantines Vol. 33 (1975), pp. 5-76, at p. 12 note 6. ...
Joannes ( 847–855)Pope Leo IV (847–855) instructed Archbishop John that the church of the Archangel in praedio Lustrensi, which had been consecrated by a heretic archbishop, should be torn down, rebuilt, and reconsecrated. Kehr, p. 405, no. 38. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Epistolarum Vol. 5: Karolini aevi III (Berlin: weidmann 1909), pp. 602-603, no. 32. ... Citonatus (964)Citonatus (II): Corrado Zedda and Raimondo Pinna, "La nascita dei Giudicati. Proposta per lo scioglimentodi un enigma storiografico" , in: Archivio Storico Giuridico Sardo di Sassari, n.s. 12 (2007), pp. 28-42. ... Umberto (1017–1040)