Roman Catholic Diocese of Mazara del Vallo

The Italian Catholic diocese of Mazara del Vallo is in Sicily. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Palermo.^[1]

History

In the struggle of the Saracens against the Normans for the possession of Sicily, Mazara was hotly contested, especially in 1075 when Roger I of Sicily emerged victorious. The episcopal see of Lilybaeum was then transferred to Mazzara.

Of the bishops of Lilybaeum the best known is Paschasinus, legate of Pope Leo I at the Council of Chalcedon (451). The first bishop of Mazara was Stefano de Ferro, a relative of Count Roger (1093). The cathedral was then founded, and later embellished by Bishop Tristiano (1157).

Other bishops were

• Cardinal Bessarion (1449)
• Giovanni de Monteaperto (1470), who restored the cathedral and founded a library
• Bernardo Gasco (1579), of Toledo
• Cardinal Gian Domenico Spinola (1637)
• the Franciscan Francesco M. Graffeo (1685).^[2]

Bishops of Mazara del Vallo since 1900

• Gaetano Quattrocchi (15 Jun 1900 - 1903)
• Nicola Maria Audino (22 Jun 1903 - 21 Jun 1933)
• Salvatore Ballo Guercio (18 Sep 1933 - 8 Aug 1949 )
• Gioacchino Di Leo (5 Jul 1950 - 8 Oct 1963 )
• Giuseppe Mancuso (26 Dec 1963 - 21 Mar 1977)
• Costantino Trapani, O.F.M. (21 Mar 1977 - 1987 )
• Emanuele Catarinicchia (7 Dec 1987 - 15 Nov 2002)
• Calogero La Piana, S.D.B. (15 Nov 2002 - 18 Nov 2006)
• Domenico Mogavero (22 Feb 2007 - )

Notes

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

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