The Archdiocese of Acerenza () is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in southern Italy, included in the provinces of Lecce and Potenza. It has existed as a diocese since the fourth or fifth centuries. In the 11th century it was elevated to an archdiocese.
In 1203, the archdiocese of Acerenza was united with the diocese of Matera to form the Archdiocese of Acerenza and Matera, with one and the same person being bishop of both dioceses, while the two dioceses each maintained their separate existence. Matera was separated again in 1954, recreating the Archdiocese of Acerenza, which briefly lost its metropolitan status as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Potenza in 1976. It regained its status as an archdiocese in 1977. Its metropolitan is the Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo.
History Acerenza was certainly an episcopal see in the course of the fifth century, for in 499 we meet with the name of its first known bishop, Justus, in the Acts of the Roman Synod of that year. The town was known in antiquity as the "high nest of Acherontia".Horace, Odes, III, iv, 14.
Acerenza was in early imperial times a populous and important town, and a bulwark of the territory of Lucania and Apulia. In the Gothic and Lombard period it fell into decay, but was restored by Grimoald II, Duke of Beneventum (687-689). An Archbishop of Acerenza (Giraldus) appears in 1063 in an act of donation of Robert Guiscard to the monastery of the Santissima Trinità in Venosa.Ughelli, p. 25. Guiscard himself, who died on 17 July 1985, was buried there.Gordon S. Brown, The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily (Jefferson, NC; McFarland 2003), p. 181.
For a few years after 968 Acerenza adopted the Greek Rite in consequence of an order of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas (963-969), whereby it was made one of five suffragans of the archdiocese of Otranto, and compelled to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople.Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, , Vol. 50, "Otranto," p. 63 col. 1. Liutprand of Cremona, "Relatio," ch. 62, , in: Monumenta Germanie Historica. Scriptores Vol. 3 , p. 361: "Scripsit itaque Polyeuctos Constantinopolitani patriarchia privilegium Hydrontino episcopo, quatinus sua auctoritate habeat licentiam episcopos consecrandi in Acirentila, Turcico, Gravina, Maceria, Tricarico, qui ad consecrationem domini Apostolici pertinere videntur." In May 1041, Bishop Stephan (1029–1041) died in battle, fighting for the Greeks against the Normans.Kehr IX, p. 453: "Stephanus episcopus a. 1041 pro Graecis pugnans contra Normannos occubuerit ("Ann. Baren." ad a., ed. Mon. Germ. Scr. V 54).
At the synod held by Pope Nicholas II at Melfi in August 1059, the archbishop of Acerenza and Archbishop Arnulf of Cosenza were delegated to find appropriate bishops for the vacancies at Montepeloso and Tricarico.Kehr IX, p. 456, no. 4. The archbishop of Acerenza is not named. It is conjectured that the title of archbishop and was awarded to Acerenza by Pope Nicholas,Kehr, p. 453: "A Nicolao II vero Acheruntina ecclesia a subiectione Salernitani archiep. soluta et in archiepiscopatum provecta esse videtur, nam Alexander II in privilegio a. 1068 m. april. dato Arnaldo archiep. (n. 6) archiepiscopalem dignitatem iam prius exsistentem confirmavit." since Pope Alexander II (1061–1073) in 1068 merely confirmed the existence of the title of archbishop Arnaldus.Kehr, p. 457, no. 6. Archbishop Arnaldus attended the consecration of the abbey church of Montecassino on 1 October 1071.Loud, The Latin Church in Norman Italy, p. 120. Arnoldus was apparently French: Loud, p. 123, 131.
In the struggle between the archdiocese of Salerno and its suffragan dioceses, Conza and Acerenza, Pope Urban II ruled on 20 July 1098 that both were subject to Salerno.Kehr VIII, p. 354, no. 35; IX, p. 507, no. 3. Ughelli VII, p. 393. Minasi, p. 282.
Metropolitan On 16 June 1102, Pope Paschal II confirmed for the archbishop of Acerenza all his diocese's privileges and possessions, including his metropolitan status and the suffragan (subordinate) dioceses of Venosa, Gravina, Tricarico, Tursi, and Potenza, whose bishops he had the right of confirming and consecrating.F. Ughelli Italia Sacra VII (Venice 1721), p. 29. P. Kehr Italia pontificia IX, p. 458, no. 9: "munit Acherontinam ecclesiam apost. decreti auctoritate et confirmat, quaecumque metropolitano iure praeteritis temporibus ei pertinuisse noscuntur, videlicet Venusium, Gravinam, Tricaricum, Tursum, Potentiam, ut potestatem habeat in eis episcopos ordinandi ac consecrandi." On 1 April 1151, Pope Eugenius III confirmed the privilege of Pope Paschal II, Kehr Italia pontificia IX, p. 458, no. 11. as did Pope Alexander III on September 1179.Ughelli VII, p. 33.
There is evidence that the diocese of Matera had been joined to the Archdiocese of Acerenza by 1199, and that the archbishops enjoyed the episcopal income of Matera.Cappelletti, p. 434.
Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), Bartolommeo Prignano, was once Archbishop of Acerenza, though his work was in Avignon, where he was an Auditor in the papal chancellery.
Cathedrals The cathedral in Acerenza, begun around 1080 by Archbishop Arnaldus (1066–1101), is dedicated to Saint Canius (or Canio or Cano), whose alleged remains were found at Atella by Bishop Leo, c. 799, and brought to Acerenza.Cappelletti XX, p. 419. Ughelli VII, pp. 13-24. The cathedral of Matera is dedicated to Saint Eucherius.
Acerenza is known for a bust which has long been supposed to be that of Saint Canius, patron of the city, to whom the cathedral is dedicated, but which is believed to be a portrait-bust of Julian the Apostate,Gaetano Negri, Julian the Apostate Volume 1 (London: Fisher Unwin 1905), pp. xxviii-xxxiv, citing the agreement of Salomon Reinach. though others express doubt,Giuseppe De Lorenzo, Venosa e la regione del Vulture , Collezione di monografie illustrate. Serie 1. Italia Artistica, no. 24. (Bergamo: Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche 1906), pp. 45-52. some even maintain that it is a bust of the Emperor Frederick II, after the manner of the sculptors of the Antonine age.The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture Volume 1 (Oxford-NY: OUP 2012), pp. 8-9.
The cathedral Chapter of Matera was composed, in 1703, of three dignities and twenty-four canons. Acerenza had two dignities and ten canons.Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 67, note 1. In the mid-19th century, the cathedral had a Chapter composed of six dignities (the Archdeacon, the Cantor, the Treasurer, the Archpriest, and the Theologus and the Penitentiary), and twenty canons.D'Avino, p. 6 col. 1.
The archbishops preferred to live in the much larger town of Matera, except in the summer months. The population of Acerenza, in 1703 was c. 2,000, that of Matera 15,000.Ritzler & Sefrin V, p. 67, note 1. In c. 2020, Acerenza has 2,268 residents, Matera and Potenza over 60,000 each. The archbishop's Vicar-general resided at Acerenza, and handled the legal business of the archdiocese, as well as cases on appeal from the suffragan dioceses.D'Avino, p. 6 col. 1.
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and the removal of King Joachim Marat, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (King Ferdinand IV) reach agreement on restoration and restitution.
A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818.Bullarii Romani Continuatio Vol VII (Prati: Aldina 1852), pp. 1719-1726. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818.F. Torelli (1848), La chiave del concordato dell'anno 1818 I, second edition (Naples: Fibreno 1848), pp. 1-19. The re-erection of the dioceses of the kingdom and the ecclesiastical provinces took more than three years. The right of the king to nominate the candidate for a vacant bishopric was recognized, as in the Concordat of 1741, subject to papal confirmation (preconisation). This was confirmed by the papal Indult "Sinceritas Fidei" of 7 March 1818.Bullarii Romani Continuatio Vol VII (Prati: Aldina 1852), pp. 1726-1727.
In the enabling papal legislation, the bull "De Utiliori" of 27 July 1818, Pius VII assigned as suffragans of the archdiocese of Acerenza the dioceses of Anglona and Tursi (united), Potenza, Tricarico, and Venosa. The diocesee of Matera, previously united to Acerenza, was added to Acerenza in perpetuo.Bullarii Romani Continuatio Vol VII (Prati: Aldina 1852), p. 1772 § 9.
On 5 August 1910, the archbishops of Acerenza & Materano were granted the additional title of abbot of S. Angelo di Montescaglioso.Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 2 (1910), p. 649. Kehr IX, p. 465-467.
On 2 July 1954, the archdioceses of Acherenza and Matera were separated, each receiving its own archbishop.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 46 (1954), p. 522; and p. 420: "die 2 Iulii. — Metropolitanae Ecclesiae Acheruntinae R. P. D. Dominicum Picchinenna, Antistitem Urbanum, parochum ecclesiae collegiatae S. Laurentii in civitate Melphensi. — Metropolitanae Ecclesiae Materanensi Exc. P. D. Iacobum Palombella, hactenus Episcopum Calvensem et Theanensem." The title of Abbot of S. Angelo di Montecaglioso was assigned to the archbishops of Matera.AAS 46, p. 523.
Metropolinate removed Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,Christus Dominus 40. Therefore, in order to accomplish these aims this sacred synod decrees as follows: 1) The boundaries of ecclesiastical provinces are to be submitted to an early review and the rights and privileges of metropolitans are to be defined by new and suitable norms. 2) As a general rule all dioceses and other territorial divisions that are by law equivalent to dioceses should be attached to an ecclesiastical province. Therefore dioceses which are now directly subject to the Apostolic See and which are not united to any other are either to be brought together to form a new ecclesiastical province, if that be possible, or else attached to that province which is nearer or more convenient. They are to be made subject to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the bishop, in keeping with the norms of the common law. 3) Wherever advantageous, ecclesiastical provinces should be grouped into ecclesiastical regions for the structure of which juridical provision is to be made. Pope Paul VI undertook the reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses of Lucania. On 21 August 1976, he issued the bull "Quo aptius" to create the new ecclesiastical province of Potenza,Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 68 (1976), pp. 593-594. which involved the removal of metropolitan status of both Acerenza and Matera."ecclesiasticas autem provincias Acheruntinam et Materanensem simul exstinguimus." Both became suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Potenza, along with their former suffragan dioceses, though the archbishops retained their titles."...ex suffraganeis Ecclesiis hic enumeratis : Acheruntina et Materanensi, servantibus suam archiepiscopalem dignitatem Pastoribus...."
List of bishops/archbishops Bishops of Acerenza The fifteen names and terms of the bishops, down to 'Joseph', are traditional and undocumented.Gams, p. 843. Francesco Lanzoni, Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al al principio del secolo VII, (Faenza: F. Lega 1927), pp. 299-300.
Romanus (300–329) Monocollus (for 8 years) Petrus I (for 3 years) Sylvius (for 5 years) Theodosius (for 8 years) Aloris (for 22 years) Stephanus Primus (for 2 years) Araldus (for 4 years) Bertus (for 3 years) Leo (I) (for 23 years) Lupus (for 3 years) Evalanius (for 12 years) Azo (for 3 years)