Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lecce
The Italian Catholic archdiocese of Lecce has existed as a diocese since 1057. It has been an archdiocese since 1980, when it became the metropolitan of the archdiocese of Otranto, reversing the previous position[1].
History
It was known to the ancients as Lupiæ. In the time of the Normans, Lecce became the seat of a countship, some of its counts being famous, notably Tancred of Lecce, who contested with Emperor Henry VI the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and Gautier de Brienne, cousin of Tancred.
A bishop of Lecce is first mentioned in 1057, in the person of Teodoro Bonsecolo. Other bishops of note were:
- Roberto Vultorico (1214), who restored the cathedral;
- Tommaso Ammirati (1429); Ugolino Martelli (1511), a linguist;
- Giambattista Castromediani (1544), who founded the hospital and other institutions for children and the poor;
- Luigi Pappacoda (1639), who rebuilt the cathedral, which contains his statue in marble;
- Antonio Pignatelli (1672), later Pope Innocent XII, who founded the seminary of Lecce.
Bishops and Archbishops of Lecce since 1671
- Antonio Pignatelli del Rastrello † (4 May 1671 - 12 Jan 1682 )
- Fabrizio Pignatelli † (30 Mar 1695 Appointed - 1734 Died)
- Scipione Sersale † ( 1744 Appointed - 11 Jul 1751 Died)
- Alfonso Sozy Carafa, C.R.S. † (15 Nov 1751 Appointed - 1783 Died)
- Salvatore Spinelli, O.S.B. † (26 Mar 1792 Appointed - 18 Dec 1796 )
- Niccola Caputo de' Marchesi di Cerreto † (21 Dec 1818 Appointed - 1862 Died)
- Valerio Laspro † (6 May 1872 Appointed - 20 Mar 1877 )
- Salvatore Luigi Zola, C.R.L. † (22 Jun 1877 - 28 Apr 1898 Died)
- Evangelista di Milia, O.F.M. Cap. † (15 Nov 1898 - 17 Sep 1901 Died)
- Gennaro Trama † (10 Feb 1902 Appointed - 9 Nov 1927 )
- Alberto Costa † (7 Dec 1928 - 2 Aug 1950 )
- Francesco Minerva † (17 Dec 1950 - 27 Jan 1981 )
- Michele Mincuzzi † (27 Jan 1981 - 7 Dec 1988 )
- Cosmo Francesco Ruppi (7 Dec 1988 - 16 Apr 2009 )
- Domenico Umberto D'Ambrosio (16 Apr 2009 - )
References
- De Simone, Lecce e i suoi dintorni (Lecce, 1874)
- Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia, XXI.
Notes
- ^ Catholic Hierarchy page
External links
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.