Roman Catholic Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti

The Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti (Latin: Dioecesis Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Apulia, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year, the territorial prelature of Altamura e Acquaviva delle Fonti was united with the diocese of Gravina. The present diocese is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto.[1][2]

Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti Dioecesis Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis
Cathedral in Altamura
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Bari-Bitonto
Statistics
Area	1,309 km^2 (505 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2015) 172,400 (est.) 170,400 (est.) (98.8%)
Parishes	40
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1248
Cathedral	Cattedrale di S. Maria Assunta
Co-cathedral	Basilica Concattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta Concattedrale di S. Eustachio
Secular priests	68 (diocesan) 22 (Religious Orders) 11 Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Mario Paciello
Map
www.diocesidialtamura.it

The seat of the bishop is at Altamura Cathedral, with Acquaviva Cathedral and Gravina Cathedral as co-cathedrals.

History

Altamura was once a territorial prelature: an archipresbyterate, declared exempt from episcopal jurisdiction by Pope Innocent IV in 1248, and again by Pope Innocent VIII (1484–92). Acquaviva delle Fonti, a town of the Campagna, was declared similarly exempt by Pope Pius IX and united with Altamura on 17 August 1848.[3]

Prelates and Bishops

Territorial Prelature of Altamura

Erected: 1248
Latin Name: Altamurensis

...

• Pietro de Moreriis (1296 – c. 1308?)[4]

...

• Giovanni Geronimo de Mari (attested 1606–1607)[5]

...

• Giandomenico Falcone (1 June 1842 – 10 July 1858 – 24 December 1862)[6]

Sede Vacante (24 December 1862 – 28 August 1879)

• Luigi Marcello Pellegrini (1879–1894 Died)[7]
• Carlo Caputo (1897–1904 Appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Germany)
• Tommaso Cirielli (1899–1902 Died)[8]
• Carlo Giuseppe Cecchini, O.P. (1904–1909 Appointed Archbishop of Taranto)
• Adolfo Verrienti (1910–1929 Resigned)
• Domenico Dell'Aquila (1932–1942 Died)
• Giuseppe Della Cioppa (1943–1947 Appointed Bishop of Alife)

Territorial Prelature of Altamura ed Acquaviva delle Fonti

Name Changed: 17 August 1848
Latin Name: Altamurensis et Aquavievensis
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Bari-Canosa

• Salvatore Rotolo, S.D.B. (1948–1962 Retired)
• Antonio D'Erchia (1962–1964 Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Conversano)
• Salvatore Isgró (1975–1982 Appointed Archbishop of Sassari)
• Tarcisio Pisani, O.M. (1982–1986 Appointed Bishop of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti)

Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti

30 September 1986: United with the Diocese of Gravina
Latin Name: Altamurensis-Gravinensis-Aquavievensis

• Agostino Superbo (1994–1997 Resigned)
• Mario Paciello (1997–2013 Retired)
• Giovanni Ricchiuti (2013– )

References

1. "Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
2. "Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
3. Catholic Encyclopedia article
4. Pietro de Angeriaco was appointed by Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples 1285–1309) in 1296. Charles II had successfully petitioned Pope Boniface VIII to unite the two offices of Treasurer of S. Nicholas in Bari and Archpriest of Altamura. Antonio Beatillo (1703). Historia della vita, miracoli, traslatione, e gloria dell'illustrissimo confessore di Christo San Nicolò il Magno Arcivescovo di Mira (in Italian). Roma: Pietro Olivieri. p. 460. Serena, pp. 330-331.
5. Bartolomeo Chioccarelli (1721). Archivio della reggia giurisdizione del regno di Napoli, ristretto in indice compendioso ... (in Italian). Vinezia. pp. 26–34, 132–134.
6. Canon Falcone had been Vicar General of Molfetta before being named Archpriest of Acquaviva on 1 June 1842 by King Ferdinand II of Naples. Michele Garruba (1844). Serie critica de sacri pastori Baresi, corr. accresciuta ed ill (in Italian). Bari: Cannone. pp. 711–712. To this was added the office of Archpriest of Altamura on 16 October 1858: Almanacco reale del regno delle Due Sicilie (in Italian). Napoli: Stamperia Reale. 1854. p. 176. On 10 July 1858 Falcone was named titular Bishop of Eumeneia: La civiltà cattolica: pubblicazione periodica per tutta l'Italia. Terza serie (in Italian). Vol. 11. Roma: Uffizio della civilta cattolica. 1858. p. 229. Serena, p. 334.
7. In May 1881 Pellegrini was appointed titular Bishop of Troas (Turkey). Serena, p. 334.
8. Cirelli was appointed titular Bishop of Proconessos on 22 June 1899. He died on 26 February 1902. Serena, p. 334.

Books

• Ciccimarra, Nicola (1964). La Cattedrale di Altamura: monumento di vita, di fede, di arte (in Italian). Altamura: Cressati.
• Cordasco, Pasquale, ed. (1994). Le pergamene della cattedrale di Altamura (1309-1381) (in Italian and Latin). Bari: Società di storia patria per la Puglia.
• Giannone, Pietro (1821). Istoria civile del regno di Napoli (in Italian). Volume quinto (5). Milano: Nicolò Bettoni. pp. 454–459.
• Giustiniani, Lorenzo (1797). Dizionario geografico ragionato del Regno di Napoli (in Italian). Tom. I. Napoli: Vincenzo Manfredi. pp. 125–136.
• Serena, Ottavio (1902). La chiesa di Altamura: la serie dei suoi prelati e le sue iscrizioni (in Italian). Trani.
• Serena, Ottavio (1902). "La chiesa di Altamura, la serie dei suoi prelati e le sue iscrizioni", in: Rassegna pugliese di scienze lettere ed arti 19, nos. 11-12 (1902), pp. 322–337.

Acknowledgment

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Co-cathedrals: Gravina Cathedral (left), and Acquaviva Cathedral (right)