Archdiocese of Benevento
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The Italian Catholic archdiocese of Benevento has a long history; it now has as suffragan dioceses the diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia, the diocese of Avellino, the diocese of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de' Goti, the diocese of Montevergine, and the archdiocese of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Conza-Nusco-Bisaccia.[1][2]
[edit] History
According to local tradition, the Christian Faith was first preached there by St. Potinus, at the command of St. Peter the Apostle. At a later period, during the persecution of Diocletian, we find mentioned as bishop of this city St. Januarius, who together with Proculus, his deacon, and two laymen, was imprisoned and beheaded at Pozzuoli in 305. His relics are preserved in the Cathedral of Naples, which also contains the remains of St. Agrippinus who was Bishop of Benevento. In 929 Benevento was raised to the dignity of a metropolitan see.
The cathedral, founded at a very early period was rebuilt in 1692, after being destroyed in the earthquake of 1688. The interior, divided into five naves, has fifty-four marble columns, which furnish a magnificent perspective. Mention should also be made of the two thrones near the high altar, carved about 1311 by a sculptor named Nicola. Of special historical interest is the so-called "altar of peace", erected in memory of the peace concluded at Benevento between Pope Clement VII and Emperor Charles V, after the sack of Rome (1527). The façade is entirely of a yellowish marble; the great central door is of bronze, of Byzantine workmanship, brought from Constantinople in the twelfth century. In the spacious vestibule are the tombs of the Lombard dukes. The bell tower, constructed almost entirely of the fragments of ancient monuments, was begun by Bishop Capo di Ferro (1254).
The church of St. Sophia, in form a great rotunda, is also deserving of mention. It dates back to the Lombard epoch, if indeed it is not a pagan temple converted into a church. The cupola is particuiarly remarkable, being set upon six antique Corinthian columns. The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is held in great veneration; adjoining it is a monastery the abode first of Benedictines, but since 1450 of monks of the Minor Observance. The statue of the Madonna with the Child in her arms is said to have been brought from Greece by St. Artelais, niece of Narses, general of the army of Justinian.
Among the bishops famous in the history of the Church of Benevento, passing over some saints of uncertain date, are: St. Marcianus (533), St. Zenoe (543), St. Barbatus (663), who had a golden serpent, an object of idolatrous worship of the Lombards, melted and made into a sacred paten which was preserved up to the time of the French invasion in 1799; Amaldo, a Franciscan monk (1533); Gaspare Colonna, generous in the decoration of churches, who, at the time of the Colonna conspiracy against Pope Eugenius IV, was imprisoned with the others, but quickly released; Giovanni della Casa, a distinguished writer and Italian orator (1544); Cardinal Giacomo Savelli (1560), founder of the seminary; Cardinal Pompeio Arrigoni (1607); Cardinal Sinibaldo Doria (1731) who suffered much from the intrigues of Nicolò Coscia, administrator under Archbishop Orsini. Doria founded a great library, subsequently enlarged by Cardinal Francesco Maria Banditi in 1775; Cardinal Domenico Spinucci (1796); Cardinal Camillo Siciliano di Rende (1879).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Catholic Hierarchy page
- ^ "Archdiocese of Benevento". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. gives suffragans the diocese of Alife, Ariano, diocese of Ascoli and Cerignola, Avellino, diocese of Boiano, diocese of Bovino, diocese of Larino, diocese of Lucera, diocese of San Severo, Sant' Agata de' Goti, diocese of Telese, and diocese of Termoli.
This article incorporates text from the entry Archdiocese of Benevento in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
