- Roman Catholic Diocese of Biella
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The diocese of Biella is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy, created in 1772[1]. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli. Biella is a city in Piedmont.
The baptistery of Biella.
Contents
History
Until 1772 Biella was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Vercelli. In that year Pope Clement XI, asked by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, established the Diocese of Biella by the papal bull Praecipua.
The first bishop was Giulio Cesare Viancini, formerly Archbishop of Sassari in Sardinia. In 1803 Napoleon suppressed the diocese, which again fell under the jurisdiction of Vercelli, but was re-established in 1817 by Pope Pius VII who appointed as bishop the Minor Observantine, Bernardino Bollati. .
In the shrine of Maria Santissima d'Oropa, situated on a mountain near Biella, the diocese preserves a memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, who was banished to the Orient by Emperor Constantius for his defence of Catholicism against Arianism. St. Eusebius, according to tradition, upon his return from the East, is said to have brought three pictures of the Madonna painted on cedar wood, one of which, the image of Oropa, he placed in a small oratory he had built. In the tenth century the chapel was placed in charge of the Benedictines. The latter having abandoned the place, Pope Pius II, in 1459, made over the shrine to the chapter of the collegiate church, now the Biella Cathedral, to which it has since belonged. In the sixteenth century, the inhabitants of Biella, in thanksgiving for their deliverance from the plague, built a church over the chapel. In the seventeenth century construction of the devotional complex known as the Sacro Monte di Oropa began.
Among the religious edifices of the city of Biella, the most notable is the Gothic cathedral, built in 1402. Its beautiful choir is by Galliari. The baptistery, in the form of a small temple, is said to be an ancient Roman edifice.[2]
Parishes
The diocese, which covers an area of 900 km², is divided into 114 parishes[3]. All but one are in the civil Province of Biella, the other falls within Province of Vercelli. A list of parishes by province and commune follows; locations (villages or neighbourhoods) within a commune are shown in brackets.[4]
Province of Biella
- Andorno Micca
- S. Giuseppe
- S. Lorenzo
- Benna
- S. Pietro
- Biella
- S. Antonio
- S. Bernardo
- S. Biagio
- S. Cassiano
- S. Giacomo
- S. Maria Assunta e S. Quirico
- S. Paolo
- S. Stefano
- S. Giovanni Battista (Cossila)
- S. Grato - (Cossila)
- S. Giuseppe - (Favaro)
- S. Carlo (Pavignano)
- Santi Giovanni e Defendente (Vaglio)
- Nostra Signora di Oropa (Villaggio Lamarmora)
- Bioglio
- S. Maria Assunta
- Borriana
- S. Sulpizio
- Callabiana
- S. Maria degli Angeli
- Camandona
- Santi Grato e Policarpo
- Camburzano
- S. Martino
- Campiglia Cervo
- Santi Bernardo e Giuseppe
- Candelo
- S. Lorenzo
- S. Pietro
- Casapinta
- S. Lorenzo
- Cavaglià
- S. Michele
- Cerreto Castello
- S. Tommaso
- Cerrione
- S. Giovanni Battista
- SS. Annunziata
- S. Giorgio (Vergnasco)
- Coggiola
- S. Giorgio
- S. Grato
- Cossato
- Gesù Nostra Speranza
- S. Defendente
- S. Maria Assunta
- S. Pietro (Castellengo)
- Crosa
- Santi Cosma e Damiano
- Donato
- Santi Pietro Paolo e Giovanni Battista
- Dorzano
- S. Lorenzo
- Gaglianico
- S. Pietro
- Gifflenga
- S. Martino
- Graglia
- S. Fede
- Santi Grato e Defendente
- Lessona
- S. Lorenzo
- Magnano
- Santi Giovanni Battista e Secondo
- Massazza
- S. Maria Assunta
- Mezzana Mortigliengo
- S. Bartolomeo
- Miagliano
- S. Antonio
- Mongrando
- S. Lorenzo
- S. Maria Assunta
- S. Rocco
- Mosso
- S. Maria Assunta
- Mottalciata
- Beata Maria Vergine del Carmine
- Muzzano
- Santi Giuseppe e Bernardo
- S. Eusebio
- Netro
- S. Maria Assunta
- SS. Annunziata
- Occhieppo Inferiore
- S. Antonino
- Occhieppo Superiore
- S. Antonio
- S. Stefano
- Pettinengo
- S. Bernardo
- Santi Stefano e Giacomo
- Piatto
- S. Michele
- Piedicavallo
- Santi Michele e Grato
- Pollone
- S. Eusebio Prete
- Ponderano
- S. Lorenzo
- Portula
- Immacolata Concezione di Maria
- S. Maria della Neve
- Pralungo
- S. Eurosia
- S. Maria della Pace
- Pray Biellese
- S. Antonio
- Quaregna
- S. Martino
- Ronco Biellese
- S. Michele
- Roppolo
- S. Maria del Rosario e S. Michele
- Rosazza
- Santi Pietro e Giorgio
- Sagliano Micca
- Santi Giacomo e Stefano
- Sala Biellese
- S. Martino
- Salussola
- S. Maria Assunta
- Natività di Maria
- S. Bartolomeo
- San Paolo Cervo
- S. Eusebio
- Sandigliano
- S. Maria Assunta
- Selve Marcone
- S. Grato
- Soprana
- S. Giuseppe
- Sordevolo
- S. Ambrogio
- Strona
- Natività di Maria
- Tavigliano
- Santissima Trinità e San Carlo
- Ternengo
- S. Eusebio
- Tollegno
- S. Germano
- Torrazzo
- S. Maria Assunta
- Trivero
- Santi Quirico e Giulitta
- Visitazione di Maria
- Santi Fabiano e Sebastiano (Bulliana)
- Sacro Cuore di Gesù (Ponzone)
- Santissima Trinità (Ponzone)
- S. Giuseppe - (Pratrivero)
- Valdengo
- S. Biagio
- Vallanzengo
- Santi Orso e Brigida
- Valle Mosso
- Cuore Immacolata di Maria (Campore)
- S. Eusebio
- Santi Antonio e Bernardo (Croce Mosso)
- Valle San Nicolao
- S. Nicolao
- Veglio
- S. Giovanni Battista
- Verrone
- S. Lorenzo
- Vigliano Biellese
- S. Maria Assunta
- S. Giuseppe Operaio (Villaggi)
- Villanova Biellese
- S. Barnaba
- Viverone
- S. Maria Assunta
- Zimone
- S. Giorgio
- Zubiena
- S. Nicolao
- Santi Cassiano e Carlo
- Zumaglia
- Santi Fabiano e Sebastiano
Province of Vercelli
- Carisio
- S. Lorenzo
Bishops
- Giulio Cesare Viancini (1 October 1772 – 22 October 1796 died)
- Giovanni Battista Canaveri (26 November 1797 – 1 June 1803 made Bishop of Vercelli)
- Bernardino Bollati (21 December 1818 – 11 June 1828 died)
- Placido Maria Tadini (13 August 1829 – 28 October 1833 appointed as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Genoa and later made cardinal.
- Giovanni Pietro Losana (6 April 1834 – 14 February 1873 died)
- Basilio Leto (10 August 1873 – 19 December 1885 resigned; became Bishop of Samaria)
- Domenico Cumino (15 January 1886 – 29 June 1901 died)
- Giuseppe Gamba (16 December 1901 – 13 August 1906 made Bishop of Novara)
- Giovanni Andrea Masera (19 August 1906 – 2 December 1912 made auxiliary Bishop of Sabina)
- Natale Serafino (2 December 1912 – 22 March 1917 made Bishop of Chiavari)
- Giovanni Garigliano (22 March 1917 – 10 October 1936 died)
- Carlo Rossi (7 December 1936 – 15 February 1972 retired)
- Vittorio Piola (15 February 1972 – 15 May 1986 resigned)
- Massimo Giustetti (3 December 1986 – 13 July 2001 retired, made bishop emeritus of the diocese)
- Gabriele Mana (13 July 2001 – )
Statistics
At the end of 2004 the diocese had a population of 175,000 of whom 171,000 (97.7%) had been baptised into the Catholic Church.[5]
Year Population Priests Deacons Religious Parishes baptised total % number secular regular baptised
per priestmen women 1950 148,327 149,361 99.3 272 224 48 545 118 686 123 1959 197,703 198,649 99.5 227 199 28 870 96 490 124 1970 201,850 202,115 99.9 217 198 19 930 24 452 126 1978 200,250 200,700 99.8 203 180 23 986 46 384 126 1990 202,000 203,000 99.5 180 150 30 1,122 11 48 400 114 1999 180,000 180,356 99.8 171 140 31 1,052 25 52 352 114 2000 180,000 180,356 99.8 172 141 31 1,046 28 54 352 114 2001 180,000 180,356 99.8 166 135 31 1,084 27 54 352 114 2002 175,000 180,000 97.2 165 134 31 1,060 27 54 352 114 2003 171,000 175,000 97.7 166 135 31 1,030 26 52 293 114 2004 171,000 175,000 97.7 161 130 31 1,062 26 52 286 114 Notes
- ^ Cheney 2007
- ^ The ‘History’ section of the article quotes extensively from Benigni 1907, which is in the public domain.
- ^ CCI n.d.a
- ^ The list of parishes was derived from CCI n.d.b
- ^ Figures from the Annuario pontificio 2005 and earlier, as reported by www.catholic-hierarchy.org on the page [1]
References
- Benigni, U (1907), "Biella", The Catholic Encyclopedia, II, New York: Robert Appleton Company, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_%281913%29/Biella.
- Cappelletti (1844), Le chiese d’Italia, XIV, Venice, p. 649. (Cited in Benigni 1907.)
- Cheney, David M. (2007), "Diocese of Biella", Catholic-Hierarchy, http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbiei.html.
- CCI (n.d.a), Chiesa Cattolica Italiana - CCI - Diocesi di Biella, http://www.chiesacattolica.it/cci_new/diocesi/biella.html.
- CCI (n.d.b) ([dead link]), Chiesa Cattolica Italiana - CCI - Parrochie, http://www.chiesacattolica.it/pls/cci_new/bd_edit_info.ric_parr?cod_reg=&cod_dioc=513&dadiocesi=1.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.External links
- Diocesi di Biella (Italian) Official site.
Categories:- Roman Catholic dioceses in Italy
- Roman Catholic dioceses in Piedmont
- Religious organizations established in 1772
- Dioceses established in the 18th century
- Biella
- Province of Biella
- Province of Vercelli
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