The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rimini is an ecclesiastical territory in Emilia Romagna, Italy. It is a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ravenna.
It has a surface of 781 km², extending over 28 communes of the area. It has 123 parishes and 303,365 Catholic inhabitants[1].
Bishop Francesco Lambiasi is the current diocesan bishop.
Rimini was probably evangelized from Ravenna. Among its traditional martyrs are: St. Innocentia and companions; Saints Juventinus, Facundinus, and companions; Saints Theodorus and Marinus. The see was probably established before the peace of Constantine.
Among the bishops were: Stennius, at Rome in 313; Cyriacus, one of his successors, sided with the Arians; under St. Gaudentius the famous Council of Rimini against Arianism was held in 359 (for over 400 Western bishops, parallel with the eastern bishops' council of Seleucia); he was later put to death by the Arians for having excommunicated the priest Marcianus; Stephanus attended at Constantinople (551); the election of Castor (591) caused much trouble to St. Gregory I, who had to send to Rimini a "visitor"; Agnellus (743) was governor of the city, subject to the Archbishop of Ravenna; Delto acted frequently as legate for pope John VIII; Blessed Arduino (d. in 1009); Uberto II is mentioned with praise by St. Peter Damian; Opizo was one of the consecrators of the Antipope Clement III (Guiberto, 1075); Ranieri II degli Uberti (1143) consecrated the ancient cathedral of St. Colomba; Alberigo (1153) made peace between Rimini and Cesena; Bonaventura Trissino founded the hospital of Santo Spirito; under Benno (1230) some pious ladies founded a hospital for the lepers, and themselves cared for the afflicted. At the end of the thirteenth century the Armenians received at Rimini a church and a hospital.
From 1407 Gregory XII resided at Rimini. Giovanni Rosa united the eleven hospitals of Rimini into one. Under Giulio Parisani (1549) the seminary was opened (1568). Giambattista Castelli (1569) promoted the Tridentine reforms and was nuncio at Paris. Andrea Minucci was severely tried during the French Revolution; under him the Tempio Malatestiano was elected as cathedral.