Bishopric of Viterbo
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Diocese of Viterbo Dioecesis Viterbiensis |
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Viterbo Cathedral
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| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical province | Immediately subject to the Holy See |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 2,161 km2 (834 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2014) 181,116 174,400 (est.) (96.3%) |
| Parishes | 96 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 6th century |
| Cathedral | Basilica Cattedrale di S. Lorenzo Martire (Viterbo) |
| Co-cathedral | Basilica Cattedrale del S. Sepolcro (Acquapendente) Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore (Tuscania) Concattedrale di S. Nicola (Bagnoregio) |
| Secular priests | 112 (diocesan) 61 (religious Orders) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Lino Fumagalli |
| Emeritus Bishops | Lorenzo Chiarinelli |
| Website | |
| www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Viterbo (Latin: Dioecesis Viterbiensis) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in central Italy. It was called historically (from the 12th century) the Diocese of Viterbo e Tuscania. Its name was changed to Diocese of Viterbo, Acquapendente, Bagnoregio, Montefiascone, Tuscania and San Martino al Monte Cimino in 1986, and shortened to Viterbo in 1991. The diocese is exempt, i.e. immediately subject to the Holy See, not belonging to any ecclesiastical province.
The name of Viterbo occurs for the first time in the 8th century, under Pope Zachary, when it was a village tributary to Toscanella, in Lombard Tuscany (Tuscia Langobardorum) on the Via Cassia. Charlemagne gave the pope all this Tuscan territory in feudal tenure, the imperial authority over it being still represented by a sculdascio (feudal sheriff) and later by a count.
The episcopal see of Viterbo was transferred from Toscanella, which venerates the martyrs Secundianus, Verianus and companions (who, however, were Romans). They suffered not far from the city, to which their relics were translated in the seventh century by Bishop Maurus, the first known bishop (649). Among the successors of Maurus was Homobonus, to whom Pope Leo IV (850) addressed a letter determining the boundaries of the diocese. In 876 Joannes, in the name of Pope John VIII, carried the imperial insignia to Charles the Bald.
In 1192 Pope Celestine III made it the diocese of Viterbo, on territory split off from the Tuscanello bishopric, but jointly held with that (now secondary) see until 1913. As direct subjects of the popes, many of its bishops were transferred to a richer see and/or even created Cardinals.
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