Roman Catholic Diocese of Sulmona-Valva

The diocese of Sulmona-Valva is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in central Italy, created in 1986. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of L'Aquila. The diocese was created in 1818 when the diocese of Sulmona and the diocese of Valva were united.^[1]

History

In the Lombard period Sulmona was subject to the Duchy of Spoleto; later it belonged to the counts of the Marsi. When the Normans conquered the Abruzzi, Sulmona increased in importance. Emperor Frederick II made it the capital of the "Gran Giustizierato" of the Abruzzi.

Legend associates the evangelizing of the district with the name of St. Britius, Bishop of Spoleto, in the second century. The first known Bishop of Sulmona is Palladius (499); in 503 a Fortunatus Valvensis is mentioned. St Pamphilus, Bishop of Valva, renowned for his sanctity and miracles, died about 706; he was buried in the cathedral of Sulmona.

Four or five other bishops of Valva are known, but none of Sulmona until 1054, when Pope Leo IX named as Bishop of Valva, the Benedictine Domenico, and determined the limits of the Dioceses of S. Pelino (Valva) and S. Pamphilus (Sulmona), which were to have only one bishop, elected by the two chapters. Under Bishop Giacomo di Penne, a monk of Casa Nova (1252), it was arranged that the two chapters should unite in making the election, as frequent disputes had arisen when they acted separately.

Other bishops were: Bartolomeo of Tocco (1402), esteemed for his learning by Pope Innocent VII, who gave him his own mitre; Donato Bottini (1448), an Augustinian; Pompeo Zambeccari (1547), nuncio in Poland; Francesco Bonapaduli (1638); Pietro Antonio Corsignani (17380, the historian of the Abruzzi.

During the dispute between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Naples the see remained vacant from 1800 till 1818.^[2]

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). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.