Diocese of Oria
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Diocese of Oria Dioecesis Uritana |
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Oria Cathedral
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| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical province | Taranto |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 921 km2 (356 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 177,743 167,800 (est.) (98.4%) |
| Parishes | 43 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 8 May 1591 |
| Cathedral | Basilica Cattedrale di S. Maria Assunta in Cielo |
| Secular priests | 76 (diocesan) 42 (Religious Orders) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Vincenzo Pisanello |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| www.diocesidioria.it | |
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Oria (Latin: Dioecesis Uritana) is in Apulia. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Taranto.
It would appear that Oria (Greek: Ὑρία - Hyria, Οὐρία - Uria) in early times had bishops of its own, because there is a record on a slab in the cathedral, dating from the eighth or ninth century, in which there is mention of a Bishop Theodosius, who was not one of the bishops of Brindisi. A bishop of Euryatensis is named in a Novella of Emperor Leo the Isaurian in 813, which might be a Greek spelling of Oriatensis. When Brindisi was destroyed by the Saracens in the ninth century, its bishops established their see at Oria and called themselves Archishops of Oria and Brindisi.
In 918, Oria, along with Reggio, Siponto and Taranto, was attacked and devastated by Moors. In 924 there was another attack by Saracens and Moors. In 925 Muslims captured Taranto and Oria. In 926 the Hungarians devastated a town called Auria, which has been identified as Oria. In 977 the Saracens (Agareni) burned and destroyed the town. In 979 Bishop Andrea Albanese began to reconstruct the town, despite the rapacity of the Greek Porphyrius the Protospatha. Porphyrius killed the bishop.
In 1055 the Normans first appeared in Calabria, initiating a lengthy struggle between Byzantine forces who were occupying the territory and the Norman invaders. The Chronicum Northmannicum states that a battle took place at Oria, and that Humphredus (Onophrius), the brother of Count William Iron-Arm, conquered the Greeks; he died the next year. His brother Count Robert Guiscard captured Hydruntum and Castra Minervae, and in 1056 he seized Taranto, but was repulsed; he took it permanently in May 1060. That summer, Count Malagerius came to Oria and expelled the Greeks from it. In 1062, Robert Guiscard took Brindisi again, and later came to Oria and took it again. In 1082 Oria was besieged by Geoffrey of Conversano, but in April his uncle Robert Guiscard raised the siege.
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Wikipedia