The Archbishopric of Taranto (Tarentina in Latin) is a metropolitan Roman Catholic diocese in southern Italy, on a bay in the Gulf of Taranto.
Its suffragan sees are the diocese of Castellaneta and diocese of Oria. The current Archbishop of Taranto is His Excellency, the Most Reverend Archbishop Philip Santoro, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on Monday, November 21, 2011, as the replacement for Archbishop Emeritus Benigno Luigi Papa, O.F.M. Cap., whose resignation was accepted that same day under Canon 401, #1 of the Code of Canon Law.[1]
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According to the local legend, the Gospel was preached in Taranto by the same St. Peter who had consecrated St. Amasianus bishop. The city venerates also the martyr St. Orontius.
The first bishop whose date is known is Innocentius (496). In the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great, three bishops filled the episcopal chair: Andreas (590), Joannes (601), Honorius (603). It is uncertain whether St. Cataldus belongs to the sixth or the seventh century. Joannes (978) is the first who had the title of archbishop.
It is well known that Taranto even under the Byzantines never adopted the Greek Rite. Stephanus perished in the battle of Nelfi (1041) fought by the Greeks and the Normans; Draco (1071) erected the cathedral; Filippo (1138) was deposed for supporting the antipope Anacletus II, and died in the monastery of Chiaravalle; Archbishop Angelo was employed in several embassies by Innocent III; Jacopo da Atri was slain in 1370; Marino del Giudice (1371) was one of the cardinals condemned by pope Urban VI in 1385.
Cardinal Ludovico Bonito (1406) was one of the few who remained faithful to Gregory XII; Cardinal Giovanni d'Aragona (1478), was son of King Ferdinand of Naples; Giovanni Battista Petrucci suffered for the complicity of his father in the conspiracy of the barons; Cardinal Battista Orsini died in 1503 in the Castle of Sant' Angelo.
Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna (1560) introduced the Tridentine reforms and established the seminary; Girolamo Gambara (1569) was a distinguished nuncio; Lelio Brancaccio (1574) suffered considerable persecution on account of his efforts at reformation; Tommaso Caracciolo (1630), a Theatine, died in the odour of sanctity.
The city of Taranto forms a single parish divided into four pittagerii, each of which contains a sub-pittagerio. It includes the Basilian Abbey of S. Maria di Talfano, where there are still some Albanians following the Greek Rite.