Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato
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Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato Dioecesis Spediensis-Sarzanensis-Brugnatensis |
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| Location | |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical province | Genoa |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 881 km2 (340 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 215,935 213,451 (98.8%) |
| Parishes | 186 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 465 (1552 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cattedrale di Cristo Re (La Spezia) |
| Co-cathedral |
Concattedrale Basilica di S. Maria Assunta (Sarzana) Cattedrale di S. Pietro, S. Lorenzo e S. Colombano (Brugnato) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Luigi Ernesto Palletti |
| Emeritus Bishops | Bassano Staffieri |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it | |
The Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato (Latin: Dioecesis Spediensis-Sarzanensis-Brugnatensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Liguria, northern Italy, created in 1986. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa. The historic diocese of Luni (earlier Luna) was united to the Diocese of Sarzana in 1465, and then to the Diocese of Brugnato in 1820, to form the current diocese; its name has been changed more than once. The current bishop is Luigi Palletti who was designated to be the new ordinary by pope Benedict XVI on October 20, 2012.
The episcopal see of Luni dates at least from the fifth century. In the sixth century St. Terentius and St. Venantius, a friend of Gregory the Great, flourished. Under Bishop Felerandus the relic of the Blood of Christ is said to have been brought to Luni.
St. Ceccardus (892) was murdered by barbarians. When Luni was abandoned, the episcopal see was fixed at Sarzana, then at Sarzanello, and finally at Castelnuovo.
In 1202 Pope Innocent III transferred the see to Sarzana, Gualtiero being the bishop. In 1306 Dante went to Sarzana, and succeeded in settling a dispute between Bishop Antonio Camulla and the Marquess Malaspina. The poet's sojourn here inspired a few terzine of the Divine Comedy.
In 1355 Emperor Charles IV. conferred on the bishops of Luni the title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Antonio M. Parentuccelli (1495), a cousin of Pope Nicholas V, built the episcopal palace and the church of S. Maria delle Grazie. In 1787 the diocese of Pontremoli, and in 1821 the diocese of Massa Ducale were separated from Luni-Sarzana, but the diocese of Brugnato, separated from Luni by Pope Innocent II in 1133, was added in 1822. The diocese of Luni-Sarzana was directly subject to the Holy See, but Brugnato was a suffragan of Genoa.
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