Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lecce
| Archdiocese of Lecce Archidioecesis Lyciensis | |
|---|---|
 Lecce Cathedral | |
| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical province | Lecce |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 750 km2 (290 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 260,988 258,225 (98.9%) |
| Parishes | 76 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 1057 (958 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Domenico Umberto D’Ambrosio |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www.diocesilecce.org | |
The Italian Catholic archdiocese of Lecce (Latin: Archidioecesis Lyciensis) in Apulia, southern Italy, 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 county, 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 notable bishops 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 a marble statue of him; and
- Antonio Pignatelli (1672), later Pope Innocent XII, who founded the seminary of Lecce.
Bishops and Archbishops of Lecce since 1671
- Antonio Pignatelli † (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
External links
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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