Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Otranto
| Archdiocese of Otranto Archidioecesis Hydruntina | |
|---|---|
 Otranto Cathedral | |
| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical province | Lecce |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 800 km2 (310 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 198,042 197,042 (99.5%) |
| Parishes | 80 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 7th Century |
| Cathedral | Cattedrale di Maria SS. Annunziata |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Donato Negro |
| Emeritus Bishops | Vincenzo Franco |
| Website | |
| www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it | |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Otranto (Latin: Archidioecesis Hydruntina) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy. The seat of the diocese is at Otranto Cathedral in the city of Otranto, Apulia. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Lecce.
The current titular is Donato Negro.
History
The first known bishop was Petrus, to whom St. Gregory the Great refers in 596; and there is record of his two successors: Sabinus (599) and Petrus (601); Bishop Marcus (about 807) is believed to be the author of the liturgical office for Holy Saturday.
Bishop Petrus (958) was raised to the dignity of Metropolitan by Polyeuctus, Patriarch of Constantinople (956-70), with the obligation to establish the Byzantine Rite throughout the new ecclesiastical province. The Latin Church was introduced again after the Norman conquest, but the Byzantine Rite remained in use in several towns of the archdiocese and of its suffragans, until the sixteenth century.
In 1818 the diocese of Castro, formerly a suffragan of Otranto, was united to it. Castro's bishops are known from 1137; among them was John Parisi, killed in 1296 by Hector, a Canon of Otranto.
The suffragans of Otranto were Gallipoli, Lecce and Ugento.
In 1980 it was demoted, losing its suffragans (and hence metropolitan status), to become an archbishopric within the province of the archdiocese of Lecce.
Sources and references
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Otranto". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.- Official website (Italian)
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