The Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de' Goti () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Campania, Italy, has existed since 1986, when the Diocese of Sant'Agata de' Goti was suppressed, and its territory and Catholic population united to the Diocese of Telese-Cerreto Sannita. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Benevento."Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
The cathedral of the diocese, the Cattedrale di SS. Trinità e Beata Vergine Maria Madre della Chiesa, dedicated to the Holy Trinity and, in a late-20th century addition, to Mary Mother of the Church, is located in Cerreto Sannita.
History The first bishop of Telese mentioned is Florentius (465). Having fallen into decay, the town was rebuilt in the ninth century. From the tenth century it was subject to the Archbishop of Benevento.
In 1612, since Telese was almost completely depopulated, Bishop Gian Francesco Leoni transferred the episcopal residence to Cerrito (which came to be called Cerreto vecchio).G. Moroni (ed.), "Telese," , in: Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Vol. 73 (Venezia: Tip. Emiliana 1855), p. 265. That Cerreto was completely destroyed in the great earthquake of 5 June 1688, with a death toll at around 4,000 in the city and county.Mario Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia (Torino: Fratelli Bocca 1901), pp. 154-163, at p. 157: "Cerreto Sannita — quasi tutta rovinata: fra la città ed il contado 4000 morti." The survivors relocated to a new site, also called Cerreto or Cerreto Sannita.Giovanni Rossi, in: D'Avino, p. 664, column 1. Bishop de Belli reported that the cathedral and the episcopal palace of Cerreto vecchio were destroyed, that the cathedral Chapter lost eight of its members, the collegiate church of S. Martino lost its archpriest and two canons, and the larger part of the priests were killed. Thirty-eight nuns were killed, and fifteen Conventual Franciscans.Rossi, pp. 176-177.
Among its bishops were: Angelo Massarelli (1567), secretary of the Council of Trent, of which he wrote the acts and a diary; Vincenzo Lupoli (1792), a jurist.Rossi, pp. 198-204.
Cathedrals and important churches The former Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Cerreto antiquo is in a ruined state.Ughelli VIII, p. 367: "Cathedralis ecclesia, tit. S. Crucis, veteris structurae extra moenia civitatis ad 500 passus sita est. Reliquias Sanctorum insignes nullas habet, cum ob metum incursionum, in nobili oppodo Cerreti translatae sint."
The diocese now has its episcopal seat in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and S. Leonardo in Cerreto Sannita.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 374, note 1. The cathedral was administered by a corporation called the Chapter, which was composed of four dignities (the Archdeacon, the Primicerius major, the Primicerius minor, and the Archpriest) and ten canons. Due to the insalubrious state of Telese, the canons were non-residential.Ughelli VIII, p. 367. In 1675, after the entire ecclesiastical establishment had moved to Cerreto, there were four dignities and twelve canons.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica V, p. 374, note 1. In 1747, there were four dignities and eleven canons.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 401, note 1.
There is also a Co-Cathedral, the Concattedrale di S. Maria Assunta, in Sant’Agata de’ Goti.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 803-805.
There is also a minor basilica, the Basilica-Santuario di S. Maria Assunta e S. Filippo Neri, in Guardia Sanframondi, which had been rebuilt on earlier foundations and consecrated in 1465, and then again rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1688. The Oratorians of S. Philip Neri had been granted the use of the church by Pope Alexander VII in 1655.The title of minor basilica was granted by Pope John Paul II in an Apostolic Letter entitled "Pro Explorato", signed on 23 September 1989. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 82 (Città del Vaticano 1990), pp. 41-42.
After the French Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the Kingdom, as well as the confiscation of much Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and King Ferdinand IV reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand demanded the suppression of fifty dioceses.
A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818.F. Torelli (1848), La chiave del concordato dell'anno 1818 I, second edition (Naples: Fibreno 1848), pp. 1-19. On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore, in which the ecclesiastical province of Benevento was restored, including it suffragans, among them the united dioceses of Cerreto e Telese.Pius VII, Bullarii Romani Continuatio Tomus 25 (Rome 1853), p. 58 § 15: "Ecclesia archiepiscopalis Beneventana dominio Sedis apostolicae etiam in temporalibus subjecta suffraganeas habere perget episcopales in regia ditione citra Pharum existentes ecclesias Avellinam, Arianensem, Bovinensem, Lucerinam, sancti Severi, Cerretanam et Thelesinam unitas, Bojanensem, Thermularum, Larinensem, et sanctae Agathae Gothorum.." The decision was also made to suppress permanently the diocese of Alife, and to incorporate its territory into the diocese of Cerreto e Telese."De Ulteriore", p. 58 § 11: "Praevia item suppressione episcopalis ecclesiae Aliphanae ex nunc pro tunc quando ex persona moderni antistitis Aliphani quomodocumque vacare contigerit, civitatem illam ac dioecesim adjungimus atque incorporamus episcopalibus ecclesiis unitis Cerretanae et Thelesinae."
On 15 January 1820, after numerous protests, Pope Pius VII issued the bull "Adorandi Servatoris", by which he revoked and annulled the provisions of the bull "De Ulteriore" so far as they commanded the suppression of the diocese of Alife.Collezione degli atti emanati dopo la pubblicazione del Concordato dell'anno 1819, Parte terza (1820 a 1825) (Napoli: De Turchini 1830), pp. 30-43, at p. 36: "perpetuo revocamus et annullamus viribusque et effectu penitus, et vacuamus ac destituta et vacuata, illasque suum effectum in eventum praemissum minime habituras esse, et fore declaramus ac saepe dictam Ecclesiam Allifanam Archiepiscopalis Beneventanae Ecclesiae, ut praefertur, suffraganeam, ejusque sedem, et episcopalem cathedram et dignitatem cum distinctis et propriis illius majoris ecclesiae Capitulo, ac episcopali Curia, ac seminario puerorum ecclesiastico, nec non peculiari in spiritualibus generali Vicario in pristinum...." There was, however, an additional provision: that one and the same bishop would be the bishop of Alife and the bishop of Telese at the same time. aeque personaliter. He was to be called the bishop of "Alife e Telese".Collezione degli atti..., pp. 36-40.
On 6 July 1852, in the bull "Compertum Nobis", Pope Pius IX made the decision to reverse the judgment of Pope Pius VII and restore the independence of the diocese of Alife, thereby separating its territory again from the power of the bishop of Cerreto e Telese.Collezione degli atti emanati dopo la pubblicazione del Concordato dell'anno 1818: da gennajo 1852 a tutto dicembre 1853. Parte 13 (Napoli: stamp. dell'Iride, 1854), pp. 134-156.
Diocesan Reorganization
Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,Christus Dominus 40. Therefore, in order to accomplish these aims this sacred synod decrees as follows: 1) The boundaries of ecclesiastical provinces are to be submitted to an early review and the rights and privileges of metropolitans are to be defined by new and suitable norms. 2) As a general rule all dioceses and other territorial divisions that are by law equivalent to dioceses should be attached to an ecclesiastical province. Therefore dioceses which are now directly subject to the Apostolic See and which are not united to any other are either to be brought together to form a new ecclesiastical province, if that be possible, or else attached to that province which is nearer or more convenient. They are to be made subject to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the bishop, in keeping with the norms of the common law. 3) Wherever advantageous, ecclesiastical provinces should be grouped into ecclesiastical regions for the structure of which juridical provision is to be made. Pope Paul VI ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy, beginning with consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned.
On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. The Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese.
On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Diocese of Telese-Cerreto Sannita and S. Agatha Gothorum be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Cerretana-Thelesina-Sanctae Agathae Gothorum. The seat of the diocese was to be in Cerreto, whose cathedral was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedral in S. Agatha Gothorum was to have the honorary title of "co-cathedral"; the Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Molfetta, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the suppressed diocese. The new diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Benevento.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 803-805.
Bishops of Telese Diocese erected: 5th Century
... Florentius (attested 465)Florentius: J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 7 (Florence: A. Zatta 1762), p. 967. Francesco Lanzoni (1927), Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604), , (Faenza: F. Lega), p. 379. Agnellus (attested 487)Mansi, p. 1171 with note 3. Lanzoni, p. 379. Kehr IX, p. 119: "Telesinum episcopatum iam saec. V exstitisse patet ex subscriptionibus Florentii "Talesini" ep. in synodo Hilari pp. a. 465 et Agnelli ep. in concilio Felicis II a. 487 celebratis...." [Mennas]Mennas (c. 590-600) was not a bishop of Telese, but of a French diocese: Kehr IX, p. 117: "potius Telonensi sive Tolonensi (Toulon) episcopatui in Gallia sito adscribendus est." The name is derived from a forged bull of Pope Gregory I, according to Lanzoni, p. 379. ... Tommaso (attested 1080)Tommaso: Rossi, pp. 65-67. ... Petrus (attested 1178– after 1189)Petrus was present at the consecration of Bishop Porphyrius of Caserta in 1178. He attended the Third Lateran Council of Pope Alexander III in March 1179. Ughelli VIII, p. 368, reports him as still in office in 1189. Rossi, pp. 68-71. ... Lucianus (1214?–?) ... R(- - -)A bishop known only by his initial was appointed by Pope Gregory IV on 28 March 1240, after a contested election. He had been archdeacon of the Church of Telese, and was elected by the Chapter of the cathedral. Eubel I, p. 482. ... Rao (28 March 1240 – death 1286)Rao: Rossi, pp. 71-74. Eubel I, p. 482