Roman Catholic Diocese of Biella

Diocese of Biella
Diocese of Biella; Dioecesis Bugellensis
	Biella Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Vercelli
Statistics
Area	900 km2 (350 sq mi)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2012); 176,500 (est.); 164,000 (est.) (92.9%)
Parishes	114
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1 June 1772
Cathedral	Cattedrale di S. Stefano
Secular priests	125 (diocesan); 41 (religious Orders)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Roberto Farinella
Vicar General	Paolo Boffa Sandalina
Bishops emeritus	Gabriele Mana
Map
Website
	www.diocesi.biella.it

The Diocese of Biella (Latin: Dioecesis Bugellensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy, created in 1772.[1] It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli. Biella is a city in Piedmont.

History

The baptistery of Biella.

Until 1772 Biella was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Vercelli. In that year Pope Clement XI, at the request of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, established the Diocese of Biella by the papal bull Praecipua.[2]

The first bishop was Giulio Cesare Viancini, formerly Archbishop of Sassari in Sardinia. In 1803 Napoleon suppressed the diocese, which again fell under the jurisdiction of Vercelli, but was re-established in 1817 by Pope Pius VII who appointed as bishop the Observant Franciscan, Bernardino Bollati.

In the shrine of Maria Santissima d'Oropa, situated on a mountain near Biella,[3] the diocese preserves a memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, who was banished to the Orient by Emperor Constantius for his defence of Catholicism against Arianism. St. Eusebius, according to tradition, upon his return from the East, is said to have brought three pictures of the Madonna painted on cedar wood, one of which, the image of Oropa, he placed in a small oratory he had built. In the tenth century the chapel was placed in charge of the Benedictines. When they abandoned the place, Pope Pius II, in 1459, made over the shrine to the Chapter of the Collegiate Church of San Stefano, now the Biella Cathedral, to which it has since belonged. In the sixteenth century, the inhabitants of Biella, in thanksgiving for their deliverance from the plague, built a church over the chapel. In the seventeenth century construction of the devotional complex known as the Sacro Monte di Oropa began.

Among the religious edifices of the city of Biella, the most notable is the Gothic cathedral, built in 1402.[4] Its beautiful choir is by Galliari. The baptistery, in the form of a small temple, is said to be an ancient Roman edifice. It is in fact a work of the eleventh century, erected on the site of a Roman tomb.[5]

The Chapter of the Cathedral is far older than the Cathedral itself. The Canons of the Collegiate Church of San Stefano appear already in the twelfth century.[6] The Chapter was composed of a Provost, a Treasurer and a Primicerius, among a total of twenty canons. There were also twelve chaplains.[7]

Bishops of Biella

Giulio Cesare Viancini (1 October 1772 – 22 October 1796 died)[8]
Giovanni Battista Canaveri, Orat. (26 November 1797 – 1 February 1805)[9] (promoted Bishop of Vercelli, 1 February 1805[10])
Bernardino Bollati, O.F.M.Observ. (21 December 1818 – 11 June 1828 died)[11]
Placido Maria Tadini (13 August 1829 – 28 October 1833 appointed as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Genoa and later made cardinal.
Giovanni Pietro Losana (6 April 1834 – 14 February 1873 died)[12]
Basilio Leto[13] (10 August 1873 – 19 December 1885 resigned; became Bishop of Samaria)
Domenico Cumino (15 January 1886 – 29 June 1901 died)
Giuseppe Gamba (16 December 1901 – 13 August 1906 made Bishop of Novara)
Giovanni Andrea Masera (19 August 1906 – 2 December 1912 made auxiliary Bishop of Sabina)
Natale Serafino (2 December 1912 – 22 March 1917 made Bishop of Chiavari)
Giovanni Garigliano (22 March 1917 – 10 October 1936 died)
Carlo Rossi (7 December 1936 – 15 February 1972 retired)
Vittorio Piola (15 February 1972 – 15 May 1986 resigned)
Massimo Giustetti (3 December 1986 – 13 July 2001 retired
Gabriele Mana (13 July 2001 – )

Parishes

The diocese, which covers an area of 900 km², is divided into 114 parishes.[14] All but one are in the civil Province of Biella, the other falls within Province of Vercelli. A list of parishes by province and commune follows; locations (villages or neighbourhoods) within a commune are shown in brackets.[15]

Province of Biella

Andorno Micca: S. Giuseppe (San Giuseppe di Casto); S. Lorenzo
Benna: S. Pietro
Biella: S. Antonio; S. Bernardo; S. Biagio; S. Cassiano; S. Giacomo; S. Maria Assunta e S. Quirico; S. Paolo; S. Stefano; S. Giovanni Battista (Cossila); S. Grato - (Cossila); S. Giuseppe - (Favaro); S. Carlo (Pavignano); Santi Giovanni e Defendente (Vaglio e Colma); Nostra Signora di Oropa (Villaggio Lamarmora)
Bioglio: S. Maria Assunta
Borriana: S. Sulpizio
Callabiana: S. Maria degli Angeli
Camandona: Santi Grato e Policarpo
Camburzano: S. Martino
Campiglia Cervo: Santi Bernardo e Giuseppe
Candelo: S. Lorenzo; S. Pietro
Casapinta: S. Lorenzo
Cavaglià: S. Michele
Cerreto Castello: S. Tommaso
Cerrione: S. Giovanni Battista; SS. Annunziata; S. Giorgio (Vergnasco)
Coggiola: S. Giorgio; S. Grato
Cossato: Gesù Nostra Speranza; S. Defendente; S. Maria Assunta; S. Pietro (Castellengo)
Crosa: Santi Cosma e Damiano
Donato: Santi Pietro Paolo e Giovanni Battista
Dorzano: S. Lorenzo
Gaglianico: S. Pietro
Gifflenga: S. Martino
Graglia: S. Fede; Santi Grato e Defendente
Lessona: S. Lorenzo
Magnano: Santi Giovanni Battista e Secondo
Massazza: S. Maria Assunta
Mezzana Mortigliengo: S. Bartolomeo
Miagliano: S. Antonio
Mongrando: S. Lorenzo; S. Maria Assunta; S. Rocco
Mosso: S. Maria Assunta
Mottalciata: Beata Maria Vergine del Carmine
Muzzano: Santi Giuseppe e Bernardo; S. Eusebio
Netro: S. Maria Assunta; SS. Annunziata
Occhieppo Inferiore: S. Antonino
Occhieppo Superiore: S. Antonio; S. Stefano
Pettinengo: S. Bernardo; Santi Stefano e Giacomo
Piatto: S. Michele
Piedicavallo: Santi Michele e Grato
Pollone: S. Eusebio Prete
Ponderano: S. Lorenzo
Portula: Immacolata Concezione di Maria; S. Maria della Neve
Pralungo: S. Eurosia; S. Maria della Pace
Pray Biellese: S. Antonio
Quaregna: S. Martino
Ronco Biellese: S. Michele
Roppolo: S. Maria del Rosario e S. Michele
Rosazza: Santi Pietro e Giorgio
Sagliano Micca: Santi Giacomo e Stefano
Sala Biellese: S. Martino
Salussola: S. Maria Assunta; Natività di Maria; S. Bartolomeo
San Paolo Cervo: S. Eusebio
Sandigliano: S. Maria Assunta
Selve Marcone: S. Grato
Soprana: S. Giuseppe
Sordevolo: S. Ambrogio
Strona: Natività di Maria
Tavigliano: Santissima Trinità e San Carlo
Ternengo: S. Eusebio
Tollegno: S. Germano
Torrazzo: S. Maria Assunta
Trivero: Santi Quirico e Giulitta; Visitazione di Maria; Santi Fabiano e Sebastiano (Bulliana); Sacro Cuore di Gesù (Ponzone); Santissima Trinità (Ponzone); S. Giuseppe - (Pratrivero)
Valdengo: S. Biagio
Vallanzengo: Santi Orso e Brigida
Valle Mosso: Cuore Immacolata di Maria (Campore); S. Eusebio; Santi Antonio e Bernardo (Croce Mosso)
Valle San Nicolao: S. Nicolao
Veglio: S. Giovanni Battista
Verrone: S. Lorenzo
Vigliano Biellese: S. Maria Assunta; S. Giuseppe Operaio (Villaggi)
Villanova Biellese: S. Barnaba
Viverone: S. Maria Assunta
Zimone: S. Giorgio
Zubiena: S. Nicolao; Santi Cassiano e Carlo
Zumaglia: Santi Fabiano e Sebastiano

Province of Vercelli

Carisio: S. Lorenzo

Statistics

At the end of 2004 the diocese had a population of 175,000 of whom 171,000 (97.7%) had been baptised into the Catholic Church.[16]

Year	Population			Priests				Deacons	Religious		Parishes
	baptised	total	%	number	secular	regular	baptised per priest		men	women
1950	148,327	149,361	99.3	272	224	48	545		118	686	123
1959	197,703	198,649	99.5	227	199	28	870		96	490	124
1970	201,850	202,115	99.9	217	198	19	930		24	452	126
1978	200,250	200,700	99.8	203	180	23	986		46	384	126
1990	202,000	203,000	99.5	180	150	30	1,122	11	48	400	114
1999	180,000	180,356	99.8	171	140	31	1,052	25	52	352	114
2000	180,000	180,356	99.8	172	141	31	1,046	28	54	352	114
2001	180,000	180,356	99.8	166	135	31	1,084	27	54	352	114
2002	175,000	180,000	97.2	165	134	31	1,060	27	54	352	114
2003	171,000	175,000	97.7	166	135	31	1,030	26	52	293	114
2004	171,000	175,000	97.7	161	130	31	1,062	26	52	286	114

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References

Cheney 2007
Cappeletti, pp. 649-662, with the text of the Bull of Clement XI.
Rando (ed.), pp. 77-82. Gustavo Avogadro de Valdengo (1846). Storia del santuario di Nostra Signora d'Oropa ne' monti di Biella (in Italian). Torino: Stamperia Reale.
Rando (ed.), pp. 38-39.
Rando (ed.), p. 38. The ‘History’ section of the article quotes extensively from Benigni 1907, which is in the public domain, and quite obsolete.
Schiaparelli cites a Bull of Pope Celestine III of 26 November 1194, confirming the grant of concessions by Bishop Rainerio of Vercelli. Schiaparelli, Luigi (1896). "Origini del comune di Biella". Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. 46: 203–258, at p. 230 and 241-242.
Giovanni Mullatera (1778). Memorie cronologiche e corografiche della citta di Biella (in Italian). Biella: Cajani. pp. 25–28.
Viancini was nominated by King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia on 17 June 1772. He was Archbishop of Sassari (1763–1772) when nominated. Ritzler, p. 133, with note 2. Gams, pp. 813 and 840. Cappelletti, p. 662.
Canaveri was born in Mari in the diocese of Albenga, and obtained a Doctorate in theology from the University of Turin (1773). He was nominated by the King of Sardinia on 14 June 1797, and consecrated in Rome on 6 August 1797 by Cardinal Hyacinthe Gerdil. He died on 11 January 1811. Ritzler, p. 134, with note 3. Gams, pp. 813.
Ritzler, p. 134, n. 3. Gams, pp. 813, 826.
Cappelletti, pp. 663-670. Bima, p. 112.
Losana was born in Vigone on 22 January 1793. He obtained a degree in theology from Turin in 1815, and was ordained in 1816. He joined the theological faculty at Turin in 1817; in 1818 he was Prefect of Studies in Casale-Monferrato. In 1819 and 1820 he was regent in Scripture and then in theology at the University. In 1824 he was granted the Abbey of S. Andrea in Savigliano. In 1826 Pope Leo XII named him titular bishop of Abydus and sent him to Syria as Vicar Apostolic of Aleppo and Delegate of the Holy See in Monte Lebano; his jurisdiction also extended to Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia and Syria as far as the Euphrates. During that time he became Administrator of the diocese of Baghdad, on the death of its bishop, Petrus Cuprié in 1832. In 1833 he was appointed titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. A Gio. Pietro Losana vescovo di Biella e conte grand'ufficiale dell'ordine dei SS. Maurizio e Lazzaro prelato domestico di S. Santità ed assistente al soglio pontificio nel cinquantesimo anniversario della sua prima messa il Capitolo e Clero della citta 27 maggio 1866 (in Italian). tip. Amosso. 1866. pp. 14–19. Cappelletti, p. 670. Losana spoke against the idea of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Ecumenical Council: Quirinus; Dollinger, J.J.I. (1870). Letters from Rome on the Council. Rivingtons. p. 668. Bessone, Angelo Stefano (2006). Giovanni Pietro Losana, (1793-1873). Biella: Fondazione Cassa di risparmio di Biella. OCLC 848944992.
Leto was born in Masserano, some 7 miles (12 km) from Biella. He held a degree in theology from the Seminary in Vercelli. He was Provost-Canon of the Collegiate Church of Trino and its parish priest; Archdeacon of Vercelli when appointed bishop: La Gerarchia Cattolica e la Famiglia Pontificia: 1881 (in Italian). Roma: Monaldi. 1881. p. 118.
CCI n.d.a
The list of parishes was derived from CCI n.d.b
Figures from the Annuario pontificio 2005 and earlier, as reported by David M. Cheney, Catholic Hierarchy, on the page Diocese of Biella, retrieved: 2016-10-10.

Sources, and further reading

Benigni, Umberto (1907), "Biella", The Catholic Encyclopedia, II, New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Bima, Palemone Luigi (1836). Serie cronologica dei romani pontefici e degli arcivescovi e vescovi del Piemonte estratta da accurati autori ed autentici documenti dall'erezione di ciascuna sede sino all'anno corrente [Palemone Luigi] (in Italian). Torino: dalla Stamperia Ghiringhello. p. 112.
Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1858). Le chiese d'Italia: dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni (in Italian). Volume decimoquarto (XIV). Venice: G. Antonelli. pp. 649–671.
Gabotto, Ferdinando (1896). "Biella e i vescovi di Vercelli". Archivio Storico Italiano (in Italian). 18: 3–57. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo. Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. p. 813.
Cheney, David M. (2007), "Diocese of Biella", Catholic-Hierarchy.
Rando, Cincia, ed. (2002). Biella e provincia. Touring Club Italiano (in Italian). Milano: Touring Editore. ISBN 978-88-365-2570-6.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. pp. 133–134.

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

External links

Diocesi di Biella (in Italian) Official site.
CCI (n.d.a), Chiesa Cattolica Italiana - CCI - Diocesi di Biella. Retrieved: 2016-10-07.
CCI (n.d.b), Chiesa Cattolica Italiana - CCI - Parrochie .

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[1] Cheney 2007

[2] Cappeletti, pp. 649-662, with the text of the Bull of Clement XI.

[3] Rando (ed.), pp. 77-82. Gustavo Avogadro de Valdengo (1846). Storia del santuario di Nostra Signora d'Oropa ne' monti di Biella (in Italian). Torino: Stamperia Reale.

[4] Rando (ed.), pp. 38-39.

[5] Rando (ed.), p. 38. The ‘History’ section of the article quotes extensively from Benigni 1907, which is in the public domain, and quite obsolete.

[6] Schiaparelli cites a Bull of Pope Celestine III of 26 November 1194, confirming the grant of concessions by Bishop Rainerio of Vercelli. Schiaparelli, Luigi (1896). "Origini del comune di Biella". Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. 46: 203–258, at p. 230 and 241-242.

[7] Giovanni Mullatera (1778). Memorie cronologiche e corografiche della citta di Biella (in Italian). Biella: Cajani. pp. 25–28.

[8] Viancini was nominated by King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia on 17 June 1772. He was Archbishop of Sassari (1763–1772) when nominated. Ritzler, p. 133, with note 2. Gams, pp. 813 and 840. Cappelletti, p. 662.

[9] Canaveri was born in Mari in the diocese of Albenga, and obtained a Doctorate in theology from the University of Turin (1773). He was nominated by the King of Sardinia on 14 June 1797, and consecrated in Rome on 6 August 1797 by Cardinal Hyacinthe Gerdil. He died on 11 January 1811. Ritzler, p. 134, with note 3. Gams, pp. 813.

[10] Ritzler, p. 134, n. 3. Gams, pp. 813, 826.

[11] Cappelletti, pp. 663-670. Bima, p. 112.

[12] Losana was born in Vigone on 22 January 1793. He obtained a degree in theology from Turin in 1815, and was ordained in 1816. He joined the theological faculty at Turin in 1817; in 1818 he was Prefect of Studies in Casale-Monferrato. In 1819 and 1820 he was regent in Scripture and then in theology at the University. In 1824 he was granted the Abbey of S. Andrea in Savigliano. In 1826 Pope Leo XII named him titular bishop of Abydus and sent him to Syria as Vicar Apostolic of Aleppo and Delegate of the Holy See in Monte Lebano; his jurisdiction also extended to Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia and Syria as far as the Euphrates. During that time he became Administrator of the diocese of Baghdad, on the death of its bishop, Petrus Cuprié in 1832. In 1833 he was appointed titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. A Gio. Pietro Losana vescovo di Biella e conte grand'ufficiale dell'ordine dei SS. Maurizio e Lazzaro prelato domestico di S. Santità ed assistente al soglio pontificio nel cinquantesimo anniversario della sua prima messa il Capitolo e Clero della citta 27 maggio 1866 (in Italian). tip. Amosso. 1866. pp. 14–19. Cappelletti, p. 670. Losana spoke against the idea of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Ecumenical Council: Quirinus; Dollinger, J.J.I. (1870). Letters from Rome on the Council. Rivingtons. p. 668. Bessone, Angelo Stefano (2006). Giovanni Pietro Losana, (1793-1873). Biella: Fondazione Cassa di risparmio di Biella. OCLC 848944992.

[13] Leto was born in Masserano, some 7 miles (12 km) from Biella. He held a degree in theology from the Seminary in Vercelli. He was Provost-Canon of the Collegiate Church of Trino and its parish priest; Archdeacon of Vercelli when appointed bishop: La Gerarchia Cattolica e la Famiglia Pontificia: 1881 (in Italian). Roma: Monaldi. 1881. p. 118.

[14] CCI n.d.a

[15] The list of parishes was derived from CCI n.d.b

[16] Figures from the Annuario pontificio 2005 and earlier, as reported by David M. Cheney, Catholic Hierarchy, on the page Diocese of Biella, retrieved: 2016-10-10.