Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucera–Troia

Diocese of Lucera–Troia
Dioecesis Lucerinus-Troianus

Location
Country Italy
Ecclesiastical province Foggia-Bovino
Statistics
Area 1,337 km2 (516 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2004)
76,543
74,000 (96.7%)
Parishes 33
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 4th century
1986 (merger)
Cathedral Lucera Cathedral
Co-cathedral Troia Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Vacant
Emeritus Bishops Raffaele Castielli
Francesco Zerrillo
Website
www.diocesiluceratroia.it
Co-cathedral in Troia

The Diocese of Lucera-Troia (Latin: Dioecesis Lucerinus-Troianus) is a Roman Catholic bishopric in Apulia, in southern Italy, with its episcopal seat at Lucera Cathedral. The present diocese was formed in 1986 by combining the older diocese of Lucera with the diocese of Troia, the seat of which was Troia Cathedral, now a co-cathedral of the united diocese.

Ecclesiastical history

Local tradition traces the origin of the bishopric of Lucera to the third century and Saint Bassus. The first historically certain bishop is Marcus (c. 743).

In 1391, the diocese of Lucera was increased by the addition of the bishopric of Castel Fiorentino (Farentino), a city founded in 1015 by the Byzantine catapan Basil Mesardonites, and the place of Emperor Frederick II's death.

After 1409, the diocese of Tortiboli - created before 1236 - was united to Lucera, although under its Latin name Tortibulum it remains a titular diocese.[1]

In 1818, the united dioceses of Montecorvino and Vulturaria were added to Lucera. Motta Montecorvino had gained a bishopric in the tenth century, counting among its bishops Saint Albert of Montecorvino. It was joined to that of Vulturaria[2] in 1433, although it too continues to give its name to a titular diocese.

On September 30, 1986, the diocese of Troia was united with Lucera to form the diocese of Lucera–Troia as a suffragan of the also renamed Metropolitan Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino.[3] Both its cathedral in Lucera and its co-cathedral in Troia have the rank of minor basilica.

Notes

  1. held since 2001 by Joseph Vu Duy Thong, Auxiliary Bishop of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
  2. now known as Volturara Appula, an almost depopulated town
  3. elevated to the status of archbishopric in 1979, as the Archbishopric of Foggia

Sources and references


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

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