Archdiocese of Lecce Archidioecesis Lyciensis |
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Lecce Cathedral
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Location | |
Country | Italy |
Ecclesiastical province | Lecce |
Statistics | |
Area | 750 km2 (290 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 274,517 273,697 (99.7%) |
Parishes | 77 |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 1057 (960 years ago) |
Cathedral | Cattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta |
Secular priests | 122 (diocesan) 58 (Religious Orders) |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Domenico Umberto D’Ambrosio |
Map | |
Website | |
www.diocesilecce.org |
The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Lecce (Latin: Archidioecesis Lyciensis) in Apulia, southern Italy, has existed as a diocese since 1057. On September 28, 1960, in the bull Cum a nobis, Pope John XXIII separated the diocese of Lecce from the ecclesiastical province of Otranto and made it immediately subject to the Holy See. In the bull Conferentia Episcopalis Apuliae issued on October 20, 1980, Pope John Paul II erected the ecclesiastical province of Lecce, with the Archdiocese of Otranto becoming a suffragan diocese.
Many years ago, Lecce was known as Lupiæ. Beginning circa 1060, Lecce became the seat of a county. One of its notable counts, Tancred of Lecce, contested Emperor Henry VI for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Another count was Gautier de Brienne, a cousin of Tancred.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
Coordinates: 40°21′07″N 18°10′09″E / 40.3520°N 18.1691°E