The Diocese of Bovino (Latin: Bivinensis, or Bovinensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the civil province of Apulia, southern Italy. It is 23 mi (37 km) southwest of Foggia."Diocese of Bovino" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016."Diocese of Bovino" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016. It was established in the tenth century, and was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Benevento.Kehr IX, p. 141: "Episcopatus paulo post promotionem Beneventani episcopi ad dignitatem metropolitanam erectus esse videtur, nam lohannes primus quem novimus episcopus a. 971 in quadam charta Landulfi archiep. occurrit (ed. Borgia Mem. Benevento II 270; facs. Arch, paleogr. Ital. XIII tab. 1. 2)." In 1986 it was merged into the Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino. In 1980, the diocese claimed 23,500 adherents, served by 26 priests.Annuario pontificio (Rome: Vatican 1981).
History It used to be claimed that the diocese of Bovino was founded by the end of the fifth century.Ughelli VII, p. 860. The bishop Johannes who was present at the Roman synod of 499 was claimed as the proof of the existence of the diocese, but that Bishop Johannes has been shown to be bishop of Vibona in the Abruzzi. There is therefore no evidence for the diocese of Bovino before the 10th century.Francesco Lanzoni (1927), Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), (Faenza 1927), p. 304: "Presso il Gams (p. 860) appare tra le diocesi pugliesi nel 499 quella di Bovino con un Ioannes; ma il presule di questo nome, uno dei sottoscrittori del sinodo romano di quell'anno, non fu di Bovino, bensì di Vibona nei Bruzzii: « episcopus ecclesiae Vibonensis» o «Vibinensis», non «Bivinensis». La diocesi di Bovino dev'essere sorta più tardi."
In 944, Pope Marinus II (942–946) confirmed the privileges and possessions of the archdiocese of Benevento, which included Bovino.Ughelli VIII, p. 50: "...concedentes tibi, tuaeque sanctae Beneventanae Ecclesiae, quaecunque legaliter, et rationabiliter antiquae jurae tempore praedecessorum tuorum visa est possidere, id est Bivinum, Asculum, Larinum, Sipontum et Ecclesiam sancti Michaelis Archangeli in Monte-Gargano cum omnibus earum pertinentiis, et omnia praedicta cum ecclesiis, familiis utriusque sexus, et massis, totaque infra tuam parochiam loca...."
The diocese was greatly affected by the 1629–1631 Italian plague. Bishop Giovanni Antonio Galderisi (1616–1658) blessed a statue of S. Dominic in the cathedral on 16 January 1631, in the hope of arresting the pestilence. The mayor and city council named him their protector, and provided an annual sum for a votive light in front of his statue.D'Avino. p. 89, col. 2.
Chapter and cathedral
The cathedral of Bovino is dedicated to the Assumption of the Body of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, and to S. Marco, once bishop of Lucera.Cappelletti XIX, p. 203.
The cathedral was administered by a corporative body called the Chapter, which was composed of three dignities (the Archdeacon, the Dean, and the Cantor) and six canons. Since the cathedral was also a parish church, there were also a body of nine "capitolari", who saw to the daily needs of the cathedral and its parishioners. There was also another parish church, and together with the cathedral some 2,000 parishioners were served.Cappelletti XIX, p. 203. In 1685, there were four dignities and six canons.Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 125; VI, p. 129, note 1. In his first ad limina report, in 1660, Bishop Vincenzo Raviglioni informed the papacy that he had found the cathedral in a dilapidated state.Gérard Labrot, Sisyphes chrétiens: la longue patience des évêques bâtisseurs du Royaume de Naples, 1590-1760 (Ceyzérieu: Editions Champ Vallon, 1999), pp. 184-185 with note 1: "Duobus ab hinc annis quibus praesum eidem ecclesiae illam reperii ita eversam atque destitutam ut minus formam ecclesiae retineat eiusque parietes usque adeo minantur evidentem iacturam."
The diocese also had six archpriests, each stationed in a town or village ("loca").
Napoleonic disruptions From 1809 to 1815, Pope Pius VII was prisoner of Napoleon in France, and was unable and unwilling to cooperate with Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat who had been named King of Naples (1808–1815). In 1815 the Congress of Vienna restored King Ferdinand I of Naples and Sicily (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), and Pius VII ceded him the papal rights to Benevento (which included Bovino). A concordat (treaty) was signed on 16 February 1818, and in a separate document, dated 7 March 1818, Pius VII granted Ferdinand the right to nominate all bishops in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.Bullarii romani continuatio VII. 2, pp. 1726-1727.
On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore, in which he reestablished the metropolitan archbishopric of Benevento. Bovino was a suffragan diocese of the archdiocese of Benevento.Bulliarii Romani Continuatio Tomus 25 (Rome 1853), p. 57, § 11: "Ecclesia archiepiscopalis Beneventana dominio Sedis apostolicae etiam in temporalibus subjecta suffraganeas habere perget episcopales in regia ditione citra Pharum existentes ecclesias Avellinam, Arianensem, Bovinensem, Lucerinam, sancti Severi, Cerretanam et Thelesinam unitas, Bojanensem, Thermularum, Larinensem, et sanctae Agathae Gothorum....."
Diocesan reorganization On 14 December 1974, Pope Paul VI appointed Giuseppe Lenotti, the Bishop of Foggia (1962–1979), to be at the same time Bishop of Bovino. On the same day, he was then also named Bishop of Troia.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 67 (Città del Vaticano 1975), p. 343: "die 14 Decembris 1974- — Cathedrali Ecclesiae Bovinensi Exc. P. D. Iosephum Lenotti, Episcopum Fodianum." "Cathedrali Ecclesiae Troianae Exc. P. D. Iosephum Lenotti, Episcopum Fodianum et Bovinensem." On 4 April 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed as successor to Bishop Lenotti, Bishop Salvatore De Giorgi, with the title of metropolitan archbishop of Foggia, Bovino, and Troia.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 73 (Città del Vaticano 1981), p. 429: "die 4 Aprilis. — Metropolitanae Ecclesiae Fodianae atque Cathedralibus Ecclesiis Bovinensi et Troianae Exc.mum P. D. Salvatorem De Giorgi, hactenus Episcopum Uritanum".
With special faculties granted by Pope Paul VI, the Sacred Congregation for Bishops issued the decree Quo Aptius on 15 November 1977, by which an exchange of territories between the dioceses of Bovino and Ariano Irpino was authorized, Boviano to surrender the town of Montaguto to Ariano, and Ariano to surrender the town of Monteleone to Bovino.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 70 (Città del Vaticano 1978), pp. 132-133.
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses.In its decree Christus Dominus, section 22, it stated: "Concerning diocesan boundaries, therefore, this sacred synod decrees that, to the extent required by the good of souls, a fitting revision of diocesan boundaries be undertaken prudently and as soon as possible. This can be done by dividing dismembering or uniting them, or by changing their boundaries, or by determining a better place for the episcopal see or, finally, especially in the case of dioceses having larger cities, by providing them with a new internal organization.... At the same time the natural population units of people, together with the civil jurisdictions and social institutions that compose their organic structure, should be preserved as far as possible as units. For this reason, obviously, the territory of each diocese should be continuous."
On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. Instead, the Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese.
On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Foggio e Bovino be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Archidioecesis Fodiana-Bovinensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Foggia, and the cathedral of Foggia was to serve as the cathedral of the merged dioceses. The cathedral in Bovino was to become a co-cathedral, and the cathedral Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Foggia, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the former diocese of Bovino.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 710-712.
The diocese of Troia was also suppressed, united with the diocese of Lucera as the Diocese of Lucera-Troia.
Bishops of Bovino to 1500
... Johannes (attested 971)Kehr IX, p. 141. ... [Anonymous] (attested 1059 – 1061)A bishop of Bovino (Bivinensis), whose name is not preserved, was present at synods of Pope Nicholas II at Benevento in 1059 and 1061. Ughelli VIII, p. 80. Cappelletti XIX, p. 204. J.D. Mansi (ed.) Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 19 (Venice: A. Zatta 1774), p. 935. ... Hugo (attested 1092 – 1099)Hugo (Ugo): Kehr IX, p. 141: "...Ugonem ex chartis a. 1092. 1093 (Gallo Cod. dipl. norm, di Aversa I lOsq. n. 6. 8) et a. 1099 (Ughelli Xb, 549) notum." ... Giso (attested 1122)Giso: Francesco Carabellese (1905), L'Apulia ed il suo comune nell'alto medio evo (Bari: V. Vecchi 1905) pp. 543, 545. ... Alexander (attested 1131 – 1137)Bishop Alexander is mentioned in a document from Cava of November 1131. Mattei-Cerasoli (1918), p. 371. Kehr IX, p. 141. ... Pandulfus (attested 1175)Bishop Pandulfus is mentioned in a document from Cava of November 1131. Mattei-Cerasoli (1918), p. 372. ... Robertus (1190 – 1215)On 18 May 1197, Bishop Robert and several episcopal colleagues consecrated the church of S. Marco in Bovino. Marco Vattasso (1900), Le due bibbie di Bovino ora codici Vaticani latini 10510—10511 e le loro note storiche, in: Studi e testi II (Roma 1900) pp. 19-20. Guilelmus (1215 – 1220)Gams, p. 861, column 2. Petrus (1220 – 1238) Matthaeus (1238 – 1240) Manerius (1240 – 1244) Johannes Baptista (attested 1244) ... Henricus (1269 – 1285?)Gams, p. 861, column 2. Eubel I, p. 139. Maynerius (attested 1289)In March 1289, Bishop Maynerius supervised the installation of a new church bell. D'Avino, p. 86, col. 1. Vattasso (1900), p. 32. Richardus (1290 – 1300) Petrus Alexander (1304 – 1309)Alexander: Gams, p. 861, column 2. Jacobus (1309 – 1324)Jacobus: : Gams, p. 861, column 2. Rostagnus (1329)Cappelletti XIX, p. 214: "eletto e morto nel medesimo anno 1329." Eubel I, p. 139. Rogerius, O.F.M. (1 May 1329 - 1340)Rogerius: Cappelletti XIX, pp. 214-215. Eubel I, p. 139. Matthaeus (1340 - )Matthaeus: Eubel I, p. 139. Guilelmus de Cabilone, O.P. (8 Mar 1346 - 1349)Guglielmo: Eubel I, p. 139. Nicolaus, O.S.B. (19 Jun 1349 - 1353)Nicola: Eubel I, p. 139. Petrus de Argentino, O.E.S.A. (12 Feb 1354 - 1370)Pietro: Eubel I, p. 139. Domenico de Sassinoro (31 Jan 1371 - Mar 1371)Domenico: Eubel I, p. 139. Bartolomeo de Sperella, O.F.M. (3 Sep 1371 - 1381)An exchange of property between Bishop de Sperella and the cathedral Chapter took place on 30 July 1381: Pasquale Cordasco, "Annotazioni in margine alle pergamene dell'Archivio Capitolare di Bovino," , in: Giovanni Anzivino; Lucia Marta Russo (edd.), Atti e documenti dell'Archivio Capitolare e dell'Archivio Diocesano di Bovino (Foggia: Centrografico Francescano 2000), pp. 56-58. Pietro, O.E.S.A.(1381 - )Pietro Argentino: D'Avino, p. 87 col. 1.