The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto (; ; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church which received that name in 1986, when the two separate dioceses, which had been governed by one and the same bishop, were united in one diocese. The diocese of Chieti had become the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chieti in 1526, when promoted by Pope Clement VII. Chieti is about 8 miles (14 km) south-west of the Adriatic port city of Pescara.
History
Chieti is the ancient Teate. In the Gothic War it was captured by Totila; later it fell into the hands of the Lombards, from whom it was captured by Pepin and devastated. The first record of Chieti as a county occurs in 872; it was subject to the dukes of Spoleto until 967.De Laurentiis, "II gastaldato e la contea di Teate con la serie de' suoi conti," in: Bollettino della Società di storia patria Anton Ludovico Antinori negli Abruzzi Vol. XIV (Aquila 1902), pp. 216, 217. In 1065, Geoffrey d'Hauteville, Count of the Capitanata and the brother of Robert Guiscard, conquered the county of Chieti. His son, Roberto di Loritello, completed the conquest as far as Ortona, thereby bringing the excommunication of Pope Gregory VII on him as a usurper of papal property.De Laurentiis (1902), p. 221. The Normans rebuilt the city of Chieti, which thenceforth belonged to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.Ughelli VI, p. 670. G. Moroni, "Chieti", in: Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 13 (Venice: tip. Emiliana 1842), p. 76. De Laurentiis, pp. 211-235.
Early episcopal claims Justin of Chieti, who is said to have presided over the Church of Chieti in the time of Pope Silvester I (314–335) is venerated as the first Bishop of Chieti, and the cathedral is dedicated to him. His story, however, is untrustworthy.Kehr IV, p. 267: "quae enim de s. Justino, primo episcopo et protectore Teatinae urbis, pia narrat traditio, ea omnino fide carent." The bishops between Justinus and Quintus have all been rejected as modern forgeries.Lanzoni, pp. 375-376: "Nè è improbabile che la diocesi di Chieti nmonti almeno al iv secolo, come, in generale, le diocesi italiane delle più remote regioni italiane. Ma non si può prestare alcuna fede a una lista episcopale di undici nomi, ignota all' Ughelli (VI, 672) e ripudiata dal Kehr (1. e), dal Gams (p. 875) e dal Cappelletti (XXI, 96-7), lavoro certamente di un falsario dell'età moderna, che racimolò qua e là undici nomi per portare le origini della diocesi teatina al tempo di papa Silvestro." The bishop Quintus who was present at the Roman synod of 499 was bishop of Teanum in Campania, not Teate (Chieti) in the Abruzzi.Lanzoni, p. 376. Quintus' alleged successor (c. 594) was a certain Barbarus, or Barbatus, or Joannes, who was appointed apostolic visitor of the Church of Ortona; there is no indication of Barbarus' diocese.Lanzoni, p. 376. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Tomus LXXVII (Paris: Migne 1862), p. 716 with note c., where it is pointed out that Barbarus was a Bishop of Benevento (c. 602). Gams, p. 671. Cappelletti posits a Saint Ceteus of Chieti, of date unknown, but Lanzoni points out that Saint Celeus was bishop of Amiternum.Cappelletti XXI, p. 97. Lanzoni, p. 376. A bishop Gribaldus (874), whose labelled image appears on the late 12th century bronze doors of the Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria, is claimed as a bishop of Chieti.Ughelli, Italia sacra VI, p. 672, who does not number Gribaldus among the bishops of Chieti in his list. Gribaldus' diocese is not named. Cf. Gams, p. 875, column 2. Cappelletti XXI, pp. 97-98.
Bishop Theoderic held a diocesan synod in May 840, in which he established a Canonicate in which the priests who served the cathedral of S. Justinus should live and pray together. He was probably responding to imperial and papal wishes.In 816, the Emperor Louis the Pious held a council at Aix, at which it was ordered that Canons and Canonesses live together according to a set of rules (canons, regulae). In the Roman synod of Pope Eugene II of November 826, it was ordered that Canons live together in a cloister next to the church. In 876, the Council of Pavia decreed in Canon X that the bishops should enclose the Canons: uti episcopi in civitatibus suis proximum ecclesiae claustrum instituant, in quo ipsi cum clero secundum canonicam regulam Deo militent, et sacerdotes suos ad hoc constringant, ut ecclesiam non relinquant et alibi habitare praesumant. 'Bishops are to create a cloister next to their church, in which they serve God along with their clergy according to the rule of canons, and they should compel their priests not to leave the church and presume to live elsewhere.'
Western schism
The diocese of Chieti was always directly subject to the papacy, without an intervening archbishop.Kehr IV, p. 267: "Episcopi semper apostolicae sedi immediate subiecti fuere."
At the beginning of the Western Schism, in 1378, Bishop Eleazarius de Sabrano chose to support Urban VI, and was one of the twenty-five prelates named cardinals by Urban on 18 September 1378. He was assigned the position of Major Penitentiary.Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 24 no. 19. He left behind in Chieti his Vicar General, Clemente Dicivano, who became a target of Urban VI's opponent in the schism, Clement VII (Robert of Geneva).G. Ravizza (1832), Collezione Vol. I, pp. 96-99, with p. 99 note 41. Clement wrote a letter to Queen Joanna I of Naples, informing her that some of the clergy of Chieti, led by the Vicar General, were engaged in active physical resistance against his agents, who were attempting to install bishop-elect Tommaso Brancaccio."Inter quos caput facinoris esse dicitur quidam Clemens nomine sed demens effectu, qui Vicarius fuit Elziarij de Sobrano olim Episcopi Teatini Anticardinalis in reprobum sensum dati, quem iusto iudicio Episcopatu priuavimus, pro quo dictus Demens adhuc nititur Ecclesiam retinere, et uenerabilem fratrem nostrum Thomasiom Brancacium electum Teatinum, cui de dicta Ecclesia prouidimus, nititur impedire." He issued a mandate to Queen Joanna, ordering her to have her officials arrest the offenders, whatever their status or position."Tuae Serenitati commictimus, quod per te et officiales tuos praedictos adhaerentes et consimiles, qui sunt tam nefando scelere inquinati, cuiusuis Ordinis, gradus, seu dignitatis existant, capi facias...." Joanna supported Clement VII until a revolution led by Charles of Durazzo deposed her on 25 August 1381, and had her murdered on 27 July 1382. Urban VI wrote a letter to the people of Chieti in November 1381, in favor of Charles, and declaring Joanna deposed and excommunicated.G. Ravizza (1832), Collezione Vol. I, pp. 99-101: "...declaravimus eam fuisse et esse tamquam scismaticam et hereticam puniendam: eamque fuisse et esse privatam et ipsam privavimus Jerusalem et Sicilie Regnis ac terris Citra et ultra pharum ... ac ipsius bona omnia fuisse et esse confiscata et ea confiscavimus...."
Bishop Giovanni Pietro Carafa in 1524 resigned the see of Chieti, and, along with Cajetan of Tiene, founded the Theatine Order.Ludwig Pastor, The History of the Popes Vol. 10, fourth edition (London: Kegan Paul Trench Trubner 1938), pp. 407-419. P. Paschini, S. Gaetano Thiene, Gian Pietro Carafa e le origini dei chierici regolari Teatini (Roma: Scuola tipografica Pio X, 1926), passim. Carafa was elected pope on 23 May 1555, and took the name Paul IV.J.N.D. Kelly & M.J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, second edition (Oxford University Press 2010), 267-269.
Metropolitan archdiocese
On 1 June 1526, Pope Clement VII issued the bull Super Universas, by which he elevated the diocese of Chieti to the status of metropolitan archdiocese, and its bishop to the rank of metropolitan archbishop. The dioceses of Lanciano, Penne, and Atri were assigned as its suffragans (subordinates).Ravizza, Collezione Vol. I. (1832), pp. 102-105. Ughelli VI, pp. 755-756. There was apparently discontent in Lanciano, since the pope had to write again, in the bull Dudum Cum Nobis of 17 February 1534. To strengthen his previous decisions, and to support his relative, Archbishop Guido de'Medici, the Archbishop of Chieti, who was actually serving as Castellan (praefectus) of the Castel S. Angelo (1525–1534),Pio Pagliucci, I Castellani del Castel S. Angelo Vol. 1, parte seconda (Roma: Polizzi e Valentini 1909), pp. 79-96. Pope Clement again declared that Lanciano was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Chieti in the ecclesiastical province of Chieti.Ravizza, Collezione Vol. I. (1832), pp. 105-107. The Bishop of Penne ed Atri, Valentino Cantalice, also protested to Pope Clement, against his diocese being a suffragan of any metropolitan other than the pope. Until his death in 1534, Clement refused Cantalice's plea.Cappelletti XXI, p. 447. The attitude of his successor, Pope Paul III (Farnese), remained the same, until, on 4 November 1538, the pope's great-grandson, Ottavio Farnese, married the illegitimate daughter of the Emperor Charles V, Margherita of Parma, Duchess of Penne.Penne had been part of her dowry. Gregory Hanlon, The Hero of Italy: Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma (Oxford University Press 2019), p. 8. Silvia Mantini, Margherita d'Austria (1522-1586): costruzioni politiche e diplomazia, tra corte Farnese e monarchia spagnola (Bulzoni, 2003), p. 146. Ravizza, Collezione Vol. I. (1832), p. 103, note. With their support, Pope Paul issued the bull "Inter Caetera" on 18 July 1539, reversing the arrangement of Clement VII and making the diocese of Penne ed Atri again directly dependent upon the Holy See.Ughelli, Italia sacra VI, pp. 756-758.
The bishops of Lanciano also caused problems, in continuing struggles with the archbishops of Chieti over obligations and privileges. Finally, Pope Pius IV intervened, and, in a bull of 26 February 1562, promoted Lanciano to the status of an archdiocese, directly dependent upon the Holy See.Ughelli VI, p. 730. Cappelletti XXI, p. 88. G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Vol. 37 (Venezia: Tip. Emiliana 1846), p. 93.
In 1818, when a general reorganization of the dioceses of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies took place, the archdiocese of Chieti had no suffragan dioceses.: "Cusentina, Rossanensis, et Theatina archiepiscopales ecclesiae absque suffraganeis imposterum remanebunt."
On 20 May 1853, Pope Pius IX issued the consistorial decree "Adeo late dioecesanum Teatini," which separated the territory of Vasto from the archdiocese of Chieti, and created the separate diocese of Vasto; at the request of King Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies, the pope made the new diocese of Vasto dependent upon the archdiocese of Chieti, with a vicar-general of the archbishop resident in Vasto. The archbishop was therefore perpetual administrator of Vasto.Gaetano Moroni, "Vasto," , in: Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Vol. 87 (Venice: tip. Emiliana 1858), pp. 185-208.
Modern configuration
In 1949, as part of the changes that led to the creation of the diocese of Pescara e Penne, the diocese of Chieti lost five parishes to the diocese of Penne.Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 42 (Rome: Tip. Vaticana 1950), p. 135, no. 1: "Eam Piscariae partem, quae ad archidioecesim Theatinam pertinet, quinque constantem paroeciis, nempe: S. Gettaei, S. Mariae de Igne, S. Silvestri, Stellae Maris et S. Petri Martyris ex archidioecesi Theatina distrahimus et Pinnensi dioecesi adiungimus, ita ut tota Piscaría civitas unius Ordinarii iurisdictioni penitus nunc subiiciatur."
On 2 March 1982, Pope John Paul II issued the bull, Fructuosae Ecclesiae, in which he created the new ecclesiastical province of Chieti (Theatina), granting it as suffragan dioceses Vasto, Lanciano and Ortona. The metropolitan status of Lanciano was cancelled, though its archbishop was permitted to retain the title of archbishop. The diocese of Ortona was joined to the archdiocese of Lanciano, aeque principaliter.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 74 (Citta del Vaticano 1982), pp. 665-666.