Roman Catholic Diocese of Sessa Aurunca

Diocese of Sessa Aurunca Dioecesis Suessana
Sessa Aurunca Cathedral
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Naples
Statistics
Area	338 km^2 (131 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 88,900 86,900 (97.8%)
Parishes	42
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	5th Century
Cathedral	Basilica-Cattedrale di Ss. Pietro e Paolo
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Sede vacante
Website
www.diocesisessa.it

The Diocese of Sessa Aurunca (Latin: Dioecesis Suessana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in southern Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples.^[1]

History

The inhabitants of Sessa Aurunca venerate as patron saint their Bishop, St. Castus, a martyr at the end of the third century. There still remain ruins of the ancient basilica dedicated to him, with which catacombs are still connected (cf. "Nuovo Bullettino d' Archeologia Cristiana", 1897, p. 140). The first bishop of certain date was Fortunatus (499); but until the end of the tenth century the names of the bishops are unknown.

Others were:

• Erveo (1171)
• Pandulfo (1224), who donated the pulpit, adorned with mosaics, in the cathedral;
• Giovanni (1259), who embellished the cathedral;
• Angelo Geraldini (1462), a humanist;
• Galeazzo Florimonte (1552), who played an important part in the affairs of the Holy See under Pope Paul III and Pope Julius III, and published various works;
• Giovanni Placidi (1566);
• Ulisse Gherardini (1624), who restored the cathedral and the episcopal residence;
• Francesco Granata (1759), who wrote various historical works
• Pietro de Felice (1797), imprisoned by the revolutionists Biography of Pietro de Felice;
• Ferdinando Girardi (1848), exiled in 1860.^[2]

Ordinaries

• Giacomo Petrucci, O.F.M. (24 May 1350 - 1356 Died)

...

• Alessandro Geraldini (15 Apr 1463 - 1486 Died)
• Pietro Ajosa (4 Aug 1486 - 1492 Died)
• Martino Zapata (27 Nov 1499 - 1505 Died)
• Francesco Guastaferro (22 Nov 1505 - 11 May 1543 Died)
• Tiberio Crispo (6 Jul 1543 - 7 Jun 1546 Resigned)
• Bartolomeo Albani (7 Jun 1546 - 22 Oct 1552 Appointed, Archbishop of Sorrento)
• Galeazzo Florimonte (22 Oct 1552 - 1565 Resigned)
• Tiberio Crispo (1565 - 27 Jun 1566 Resigned)
• Giovanni Placido (27 Jun 1566 - 20 Jan 1591 Died)
• Alessandro Riccardi (6 Mar 1591 - 16 May 1604 Died)
• Faustus Rebaglio (30 Aug 1604 - Feb 1624 Died)
• Ulysses Gherardini della Rosa (1 Jul 1624 - 9 Jan 1670 Died)
• Tommaso d'Aquino (bishop), C.R. (30 Jun 1670 - 26 Sep 1705 Died)
• Raffaele Maria Filamondo, O.P. (14 Dec 1705 - 15 Aug 1706 Died)
• Francesco Gori (4 Oct 1706 - 1708 Died)
• Luigi Maria Macedonio, C.M. (8 Jun 1718 - 9 Dec 1727 Died)
• Francesco Caracciolo, O.F.M. (24 Apr 1728 - 11 Aug 1757 Died)
• Francesco Antonio Granata (26 Sep 1757 - 11 Jan 1771 Died)
• Baldassarre Vulcano, O.S.B. (29 Jul 1771 - 20 Mar 1773 Died)
• Antonio de Torres, O.S.B. (14 Jun 1773 - 29 Oct 1779 Died)
• Emanuele Maria Pignone del Carretto, O.S.A. (27 Feb 1792 - 27 Sep 1796 Died)
• Pietro De Felice (18 Dec 1797 - Nov 1814 Died)
• Bartolomeo Varrone (6 Apr 1818 - 27 Feb 1832 Died)
• Paolo Garzilli (2 Jul 1832 - 24 Jul 1845 Died)
• Giuseppe Maria d’Alessandro (24 Nov 1845 - 15 Mar 1848 Died)
• Ferdinando Girardi, C.M. (11 Sep 1848 - 8 Dec 1866 Died)
• Raffaele Gagliardi (23 Feb 1872 - 18 Aug 1880 Died)
• Carlo de Caprio (13 Dec 1880 - 14 Dec 1887 Died)
• Giovanni Maria Diamare (1 Jun 1888 - 9 Jan 1914 Died)
• Fortunato de Santa (15 Apr 1914 - 22 Feb 1938 Died)
• Gaetano De Cicco (30 Jan 1939 - 22 Mar 1962 Retired)
• Vittorio Maria Costantini, O.F.M. Conv. (28 May 1962 - 25 Oct 1982 Retired)
• Raffaele Nogaro (25 Oct 1982 - 20 Oct 1990 Appointed, Bishop of Caserta)
• Agostino Superbo (18 May 1991 - 19 Nov 1994 Appointed, Bishop of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti)
• Antonio Napoletano, C.SS.R. (19 Nov 1994 - 25 Jun 2013 Retired)
• Orazio Francesco Piazza (25 Jun 2013- )

Notes

1. Catholic Hierarchy page
2. Catholic Encyclopedia article

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

Coordinates: 41°14′00″N 13°56′00″E / 41.2333°N 13.9333°E