Diocese of Fossombrone

The Catholic diocese of Fossombrone (Latin Name: Forosemproniensis) existed in the Italian province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the comune of Fossombrone, in the valley of the Metaurus River, 25 km (15 mi) southwest of the Adriatic seaport of Fano. In 1986, the diocese was suppressed and its territory incorporated into the diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Cagli-Pergola. Up to 1563, the diocese had been directly subject to the papacy. It then became a suffragan of the archdiocese of Urbino.Kehr IV, p. 214. In 2000, Urbino lost its metropolitan status, and Fossombrone became part of the ecclesiastical province of Pesaro."Diocese of Fossombrone" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Fossombrone" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016

History

Christianity was introduced there, according to Ferdinando Ughelli, by Felicianus of Foligno, though not until after the baptism of Constantine the Great (337).Ughelli, Italia sacra II, p. 826: "Ego in ea sententia sum, SS. Britio atque Feliciano Umbriae Apostolis praedicantibus cum caeteris ejus provinciae civitatibus Christiana suscepisse sacra, tametsi hoc ipsum haud palam ausa sit profiteri, nisi post Magnum Constantinum sacro Baptismatis fonte lustratum." The martyrologies mention several martyrs: Aquilinus, Geminus, Gelasius, Magnus and Donata, also a bishop, Timothy, and his daughter (4 February), but these persons belong elsewhere,H. Delahaye, Analecta Bollandiana Vol. 29 (Bruxelles 1910), p. 469. and were not honored in Fossombrone until the late 16th century.Lanzoni, p. 496: "In tempi recenti si è creduto che questi martiri morissero nell'antica Forosempronii, e nel 1584 se ne cominciò a celebrare la festa: ma le antiche tradizioni fossombronesi non ne sapevano nulla. Infatti, Come gli Ànalecta Bollandiana hanno dimostrato, quei nomi appartengono a tutt'altro luogo." The first bishop of certain date is Innocent, who was present at the synods of Pope Symmachus (504).Gams, p. 698. Lanzoni, p. 497. Kehr IV, p. 214: "De primo antistite Viri docti inter se discordant; A. Yernarecci (Fossombrone p. 114) Timothemn s. III ex. aut s. IV in., alii tamen Innocentium ep., qui actis conciliorum a. 499 et 501 subscripsit, primum Forosemproniensem episcopum nominant."

In 558, there was trouble with the papacy, due to the intrusion of a person called Paulinus. Pope Pelagius I wrote to the Magister Militum Joannes to have the pseudoepiscopus Paulinus taken into custody. In another letter to the Illustri Viator and Pancratius, he ordered that Paulinus be taken to a monastery, to which he had been relegated, as soon as possible. In a third letter, he ordered Basilius and Ocleantinus, who were defenders of Paulinus, to cease and desist from his cause. In a fourth letter, the pope requested Magister Joannes to bring Paulinus to him.Kehr IV, pp. 215-216, nos. 1-4.

Fossombrone was included in the Donation of Pepin, but remained subject to the Duchy of SpoletoFossombrone is not specifically named either in the donation of Pepin, or the confirmation of Charlemagne (774); it is specifically named in the Privilege of Louis the Pious (817). Augustin Theiner (ed.), Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis S. Sedis, Volume 1 (Rome: Imprimerie Vaticana 1861), pp. 1-4. until 1198, when it passed under papal rule. Pope Alexander II, in the bull "Cum in Dei" of 15 May 1054, defined the boundaries of the diocese.Ughelli II, p. 829. Pope Victor II (1055–1057) noticed the impoverished state of the diocese of Fossombrone, and gave the bishops the church of S. Giovanni in Sorbitulo with its income.Kehr IV, p. 216, no. 5. Ughelli II, p. 829. Some of the property belonging to the church of Sorbitulo, the castle of Laureto, was subject to an attempt in 1182 by the Prior of Fons Avellana to acquire it; Pope Lucius III appointed three cardinals to investigate the claims, and then took the church under his protection.Kehr IV, p. 217.

The diocese was then held in fief of the Holy See by different families: by the house of Este (1210–28), the Malatesta (1340-1445), the Montefeltro of Urbino, 1445-1631); from 1500 to 1503 it acknowledged the rule of Cesare Borgia.Benigni, p. 154.

On 4 June 1563, Pope Pius IV signed the bull "Super Universas", by which he elevated the diocese of Urbino to the status of metropolitan archdiocese. He assigned as suffragan dioceses of the new ecclesiastical province Cagli, Sinigaglia, Pesaro, Fossombrone, Montefeltro, and Gubbio. Fossombrone was no longer directly dependent upon the papacy.Cappelletti III, pp. 206-209, who gives the date of the bull as 7 July, though the text of the bull, which he prints, says "pridie nonas junii" (4 June); if the text were to read "pridie nonas julii" the date would be 6 July, not 7 July. The Bullarium Romanum also prints 4 June 1563: Bullarum diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum, Taurinensis editio, Volume 7 (Turin: Dalmazzo 1862), pp. 252-254.

The cathedral of Fossombrone is dedicated to the martyr Saint MaurentiusMaurentius was a local monk, whose tombstone was said to have been discovered in the ruins of the ancient cathedral, once his monastery church, between Fossombrone and Fano in 1781; tragically, it was lost. Celestino Masetti, Memorie di San Paterniano ... Raccolte ed illustrate con documenti e note (Fano: Lana 1875), pp. 15-18. Maurentius died in 302, during the persecution of Diocletian, when Christianity was an illegal cult and they could build no churches or monasteries. and to Bishop Aldobrandus. The cathedral had a Provost, a Theologus, a Penitentiarius and eleven canons.Ughelli II, p. 826.

Bishop Lorenzo Landi (1612–1627) presided over a diocesan synod on 28 July 1619.Vernarecci II. 2, p. 855. Bishop Benedetto Landi (1628–1632) held a diocesan synod in 1629.Vernarecci II. 2, p. 859.

Diocesan Reorganizations

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 ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in Italy. He ordered consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned.G. Feliciani (2005), "Il riordinamento delle diocesi in Italia da Pio XI a Giovanni Paolo II," in: L. Vaccaro (ed.), Storia della Chiesa in Europa tra ordinamento politico-amministrativo e strutture ecclesiastiche, Brescia 2005, pp. 283-300.

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. 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 Fano, Fossombrone, Cagli, and Pergola be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Fanensis-Forosemproniensis-Calliensis-Pergulana. The seat of the diocese was to be in Fano, whose cathedral was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedrals in Fossombrone, Cagli and Pergola were to have the honorary titles of "co-cathedral"; the Chapters were each to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Fano, 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 suppressed dioceses. The new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Urbino.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 701-704.

In 2000, Urbino lost its metropolitan status, and became, along with its former suffragans, part of the ecclesiastical province of Pesaro.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 92 (Città del Vaticano 2000), pp. 568-569.

Bishops of Fossombrone Erected: 5th Century Metropolitan (1563–2000): Archdiocese of Urbino–Urbania–Sant’Angelo in Vado; from 2000: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pesaro

to 1370

Innocent (attested 504) ... Petrus (attested 876–877)Kehr IV, p. 214: "Recordamur Petrum ep., qui a. 876 et 877 sub lohanne VIII legationis munere in Galliam functus est." ... Reginhardus (attested 967)Bishop Reginhard attended the Synod of Ravenna on 25 April 967. Schwartz, p. 243. ... Adam (attested 1036–1044)Adam: Schwartz, p. 243. Benedictus (attested 1049–1070)Benedictus: Ughelli II, p. 827. Kehr IV, p. 216, no. 7 (15 May 1070). Schwartz, p. 243. Fulcuinus (Fulcinus) (attested 1076),Bishop Fulcinus was present at the Council of Salona in October 1076, as legate of Pope Gregory VII, to receive the oath of fidelity to the Holy See from Demetrius Zvonimir, King of Croatia and Dalmatia. Ludovico Muratori, Antiquitates Italicae medii aevi Tomus V (Milan 1741), p. 840. Gams, p. 698. Kehr IV, p. 214. Schwartz, p. 244. A bishop Fulco attended a synod of the Antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna) on 27 February 1086; he might be the same person as Fulcuinus, according to Schwartz and Cappelletti III, p. 270. ... Aldebrandus (1119) Bishop Aldebrandus is said to have died aged 118. ... Gualfredus (attested 1140)Gualfredus is known from a single document referred to by Ughelli II, p. 827, the grant of four castelli by Dux et Marchio Guarnerus. Cappelletti III, p. 270. ... Nicolaus (1179–1197)Bishop Nicolaus attended the Third Lateran Council of Pope Alexander III in Rome in March 1179. He was present in Rome in 1196, and assisted Pope Celestine III in the consecration of three altars in the church of S. Eustachio. He also assisted, on 26 May 1196, in the dedication of S. Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome. Ughelli II, p. 827. J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 22 (Venice: A. Zatta 1778), p. 214. Gams, p. 698. V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edifici di Roma, Vol. 2 (Roma: Bencini 1873), p. 385, no. 1177; Vol. 5, p. 119, no. 344. Kehr IV, p. 217 no. 17 (8 March 1182). [Anonymous] (1201– ? )Pope Innocent III granted the unnamed bishop the monastery over which he had presided before his election. Eubel, I, p. 254, note 1. Ubertinellus (1217)On 16 August 1217, Pope Honorius III granted bishop-elect Ubertinellus a delay in appearing in Rome for his episcopal consecration, due to the disturbances in Fossombrone and in his church. Eubel I, p. 254 with note 2. Monaldus (attested 1219–1228)Monaldus was finally consecrated by Honorius III in his Year 8 (24 July 1223–1224). Ughelli II, pp. 827-830. Eubel I, p. 254 with note 3. Ricardus (attested in 1243)Ricardus: Eubel, I, p. 254. Gentilis Jacobus de Cluzano (1286– ? ) Monaldus (1296–1303) Joannes (1304–1317) Petrus (Gabrielli) (1317–1327)