Diocese of Gaeta
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The Bishoproc of Gaeta has its episcoal see in the city of Gaeta in the Lazio region of central Italy.
[edit] History
It dates from 846, when Constantine, Bishop of Formiæ, fled thither and established his residence. The see of Formia, abandoned since the end of the sixth century, was thereafter united to that of Minturno (Minturnæ).
In 1818 Pius VII merged the diocese of Gaeta with the very ancient see of Fondi. Once a suffragan of Capua, the diocese was subsequently exempted (i.e. directly subjected to the Pope).
On December 31, 1848, Pius IX raised it to archiepiscopal rank, but without suffragans.
Among its bishops of note were: Francesco Patrizio (1460), friend of Pius II, author of a work in nine books, De Regno et De Institutione Regis, dedicated to Alfonso, Duke of Calabria; and Tommaso de Vio, better known as the famous Thomas Cardinal Cajetan, a Dominican theologian and Papal diplomat.
The current archbishop is monsignor Pier Luigi Mazzoni.
[edit] Statistics
Presently it is divided into only 4 parishes, called foranie: Fondi, Gaeta, Formia and Minturno. Its territory includes also the Pontine Islands.
The diocese covers a surface of 603 km², with a population of 159,315 (as of 2004).
[edit] Sources and external links
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [1]
