The Diocese of Venafro was a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy, located in Venafro, province of Isernia, region of Molise in the ecclesiastical province of Capua. In 1852, the dioceses of Isernia and Venafro were united under the governance of one and the same bishop, aeque personaliter. The diocese of Venafro was permanently suppressed on 30 September 1986.
History
On 17 October 1032, Gerardus was consecrated bishop of Isernia at the request of the clergy of Isernia by Archbishop Adenulphus of Capua. The archbishop delineated the borders of the diocese as including the territory of the county of Isernia, the county of Venafro, and the County of Bovino.[1]
In 1100, the Diocese of Venafro (Dioecesis Venafrensis) was established.[2]
In 1621, the city of Venafro in the Terra Laboris had a population of c. 2000. The diocese was a suffragan of the Metropolitan archbishopric of Capua.[3]
Bishop Matthias Joccia (1718–1733) opened the diocesan seminary in 1728.[4]
On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore, in which he reestablished the metropolitan archbishopric of Capua, and assigned as suffragan (subordinate) dioceses: Isernia, Calvi, Suessa, and Caserta. The diocese of Venafro was permanently suppressed, and united to the diocese of Isernia.[5]
On 18 June 1852, in the bull "Sollicitudinem Animarum", Pope Pius IX the arrangement was changed. The diocese of Isernia and the revived diocese of Venafro were to be under the governance of one single bishop, aeque personaliter, to be called the diocese of Isernia e Venafro.[6]
On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Isernia and Venafro be merged into full union as one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Dioecesis Aeserniensis-Venafrensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Isernia, and the cathedral of Isernia was to serve as the cathedral of the merged diocese. The cathedral in Venafro was to become a co-cathedral, and its cathedral Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Isernia, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the suppressed diocese of Venafro.[7]
Cappelletti, Giuseppe (1866). Le chiese d'Italia Tomo vigesimo (20). Venezia: Giuseppe Antonelli, pp. 138–160. Retrieved: 2016-10-26.
Cotugno, Gabriele (1824). Memorie istoriche di Venafro.(in Italian). Napoli: stamperia della Società filomatica, 1824. [Annotated list of bishops, pp. 146-171]