Roman Catholic Diocese of Orvieto-Todi


The Italian Catholic Diocese of Orvieto-Todi, in central Italy, was created in 1986 when the historical Diocese of Orvieto was united to the Diocese of Todi. This diocese is directly subject to the Holy See. The current bishop is Benedetto Tuzia.

History

During the Gothic War, Orvieto was defended by the Goths for a long time. Later, it fell into the hands of the Lombards. From the latter end of the tenth century the city was governed by consuls, who, however, took the oath of fealty to the bishop; but from 1201 it governed itself through a podestà and a captain of the people. On account of its position on the top of a volcanic outcrop, Orvieto was often chosen by the popes as a place of refuge, and Pope Adrian IV, who visited the city in September and October 1156, had it fortified.
The first known Bishop of Orvieto was John, and in 591 appears a Bishop Candidus; among its other prelates were Bishop Constantinus, O.P., sent by Pope Alexander IV in 1255 to Greece as his Legate, where he died in 1257;
In 1528 Pope Clement VII sought refuge at Orvieto, after the sack of Rome, and while there ordered the construction of the "Pozzo di San Patrizio", by Antonio da Sangallo; it was completed in the reign of Pope Paul III.
Bishop Sebastiano Vanzi participated in the 17th through 25th sessions of the Council of Trent as one of the Definitori. In accordance with the decrees of the Council, he established the seminary of Orvieto as an institution; it was enlarged with a building of its own in 1645 by Cardinal Fausto Polo; later Giacomo Silvestri gave it the college and other property which was confiscated from the Jesuits when their religious order was suppressed.
Cardinal Paolo Antamori caused the history of the cathedral of Orvieto to be written by Guglielmo della Valle.
The territory of Aquapendente was placed under the control of the diocese of Orvieto by Pope Paschal II in 1102.

Chapter and cathedral

Bishop Francesco Monaldeschi did much for the construction of the cathedral.
In 1695, the Chapter, which was the cathedral's administrative body, was composed of two dignities, the Archdeacon and the Provost, and sixteen Canons.

Diocesan synods

A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See.
Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli presided over a diocesan synod in 1592.
Cardinal Pier Paolo Crescenzi held a diocesan synod on 9 June 1627; another on 6 June 1639; and another on 19 May 1643. Cardinal Fausto Poli held a synod on 21 May 1647. Bishop Giuseppe della Corgna, O.P. presided over a diocesan synod held in Orvieto on 20—22 October 1666, and had the decrees published. Bishop Bernardino Rocci held a synod on 16 May 1679.
Bishop Vincenzo degl'Atti presided over a diocesan synod in 1713. Bishop Onofrio Elisei held diocesan synods on: 9—11 May 1723; 24 April 1726; 27 April 1727; and 11 April 1728.

Reorganization of dioceses

In a decree of the Second Vatican Council, it was recommended that dioceses be reorganized to take into account modern developments. A project begun on orders from Pope John XXIII, and continued under his successors, was intended to reduce the number of dioceses in Italy and to rationalize their borders in terms of modern population changes and shortages of clergy. The change was made urgent because of changes made to the Concordat between the Italian State and the Holy See on 18 February 1984, and embodied in a law of 3 June 1985. The change was approved by Pope John Paul II in an audience of 27 September 1986, and by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops of the Papal Curia on 30 September 1986. The diocese of Todi was united to the diocese of Orvieto. Its name was to be Dioecesis Urbevetana-Tudertina. The seat of the diocese was to be in Orvieto. The former cathedral in Todi was to have the honorary title of co-cathedral, and its Chapter was to be called the Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one episcopal curia, one seminary, one ecclesiastical tribunal; and all the clergy were to be incardinated in the diocese of Orvieto-Todi. The territory of the diocese was to be the same as the two dioceses combined.

Bishops of Orvieto

to 1200

Bishops of Orvieto-Todi

30 September 1986: United with the Diocese of Todi to form the Diocese of Orvieto-Todi