| Diocese of Rome Dioecesis Urbis |
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Seal of the Diocese of Rome |
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| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Territory | Rome |
| Ecclesiastical province | Rome |
| Metropolitan | Diocese of Rome |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 881 km2 (340 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2007) 2,809,000 2,473,000 (88%) |
| Parishes | 337 |
| Churches | 711 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 1st century |
| Cathedral | Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran |
| Patron saint | Saints Peter and Paul, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Philip Neri, St. Lawrence |
| Secular priests | 5,994 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Benedict XVI |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Benedict XVI |
| Auxiliary Bishop | Paolo Schiavon, Ernesto Mandara, Benedetto Tuzia, Guerino Di Tora, Giuseppe Marciante |
| Vicars General | Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Angelo Cardinal Comastri |
| Website | |
| vicariatusurbis.org | |
| Source: Annuario Pontificio 2007 | |
The Diocese of Rome (Latin: Diœcesis Urbis or Diœcesis Romana, Italian: Diocesi di Roma) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy.[1] The bishop of Rome is the Pope, who is the Supreme Pontiff and leader of the Catholic Church. Established in the 1st century, its current bishop is Pope Benedict XVI, who acceded after the death of Pope John Paul II, in April 2005.
Contents |
The bishop of the Diocese of Rome has, first of all, the simple title of Bishop of Rome because all his other titles descend from this position which points to him as the successor of Saint Peter, thus the see is the Chair of Peter, in Rome according to Catholic position. From a historical Christian propective, it is the position of Patriarch of Rome, or the West, from which his authority comes from, but has recently dropped.[2] From a latin civil view, the positon of Supreme Pontiff (Pontifex Maximus) was granted to the Patriarch from the Roman Emperors who previous held the title. From this he has a plethora of titles:
The best evidence available for the origins of the Roman church is Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans. This indicates that the church was established probably by the early 40s. Saint Peter became associated with this church sometime between the year 58 and the early 60s.[3]
Says one source:
The territory of the diocese extends all over the Vatican City State and the city of Rome, capital of the Italian Republic. The two parts of the diocese are then administrated by two vicars general of the Pope:
The diocese covers a territory of 881 square kilometers[6] containing 341 parishes, 337 of which are active. There are 336 for the city of Rome[7] and one, St. Anne's Parish, for Vatican City.[8] The diocese has 238 cardinal clerics, a vicegerent of archepiscopal rank (vacant), six auxiliary bishops at present and an additional 1187 "Roman" clerics.[9] In 2004, they pastored an estimated 2,454,000 faithful, who made up 88% of the population of the territory.
In the case of Rome, the city has grown beyond the boundaries of the diocese. Notable parts of Rome belong to the dioceses of Ostia and Porto-Santa Rufina. Ostia is administered together with the Vicariate of the City and thus included in the statistics given above, while Porto is indeed administered by its own residential bishop.
Six of the dioceses of the Roman Province have the title of suburbicarians, from the Latin sub urbe, with the significance of "subject to the city [of Rome]". Each suburbicarian diocese has a Cardinal Bishop at its head.
There remains the titular Suburicarian See of Ostia, which is held by the Cardinal Bishop elected to be the Dean of the College of Cardinals, in addition to his previous Suburicarian See. The Diocese of Ostia was merged with the Diocese of Rome in 1914, and is now administered by the Vicar General for Rome.
Otherwise there are other dioceses connected with the Metropolitan of Rome. They are churches directly subjected to the Holy See:
For a list of Popes, please see: List of Popes.