Roman Catholic Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno

The Italian Catholic diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno, in Lazio, has existed under this name since 1986. It is the historic diocese of Terracina, Priverno e Sezze, created in 1217, when the diocese of Terracina was combined with the diocese of Priverno and the diocese of Sezze. It is immediately subject to the Holy See.^[1]

History

According to tradition, the first bishop of Terracina was St. Epaphroditus. The most ancient Christian record of the city is that of the martyrdom of St. Julianus, priest, and St. Cæsareus, deacon, who were cast into the sea under the emperor Trajan; in the third century St. Quartus (bishop?) suffered.

The first bishop whose date is known with certainty is Sabinus (313). Among his successors were:

• an African priest, St. Silvianus, a fugitive during the Vandal persecution (about 443);
• Petrus (590), during whose episcopate the Jews were persecuted so severely in Terracina that Gregory the Great had to intervene;
• under Agnellus, former Bishop of Fundi, which city had been destroyed, the two dioceses were unite.

The last three letters only of the name of another Bishop of Terracina, ... vsa, are preserved in an inscription (Corp. Inscr. Lat., X, I, 6419). Other bishops were:

• Joannes (969), who made the vow that the inhabitants of the city should offer each year 6,000 eels to the monastery of Monte Cassino;
• Ambrosius (1066), a Benedictine and ecclesiastical reformer;
• Gregorius (1106), a Benedictine surnamed Columna Ecclesiœ.

About this time, if not earlier, the sees of Piperno (Privernum) and Sezze (Setia), situated on the side of the Lepinian hills, were united to Terracina. The union of the three dioceses was confirmed by Pope Honorius III (1217) during the episcopate of Simeone. Among his successors were:

• the Franciscan Fra Giovanni (1362), who consecrated the cathedral;
• Zaccaria Mori (1510), present at the Fifth Lateran Council;
• Ottaviano Rovera (1545), nuncio in Switzerland and Spain;
• Bernardo M. Conti (1710), brother of Pope Innocent XIII, cardinal.

In 1725 Pope Benedict XIII restored the See of Piperno and Sezze, declaring them united œque principaliter. Bishop Francesco Antonio Mondelli (1805) was exiled in 1809, for refusing to take the oath of loyalty to Napoleon. The Cistercian Abbey of Fossa Nuova is within the territory of this see. The diocese, which is immediately subject to the Holy See,^[2]

Notes

1. ^ Catholic Hierarchy page
2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article

References

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