Assisi

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Diocese located in the civil province of Umbria,Italy. The town of Assisi (Assisium), which takes its name from Mount Asi, on which it is situated, lies almost in the centre of the province of Umbria, about halfway between the cities ofPerugia andFoligno, and forty-one miles north ofRome. The beginnings ofAssisian history are involved in much obscurity; but in early imperial times it had become a flourishing municipality of no mean importance, and lays claim, with some show oftruth, to being the birthplace of the Latin poet Sextus Aurelius Propertius. The Gospel was first preached to the Assisians about the middle of the third century by St. Cyspolitus,Bishop of Bettona (ancient Vettona), who sufferedmartyrdom under the Emperor Maximilian. About 235Sts. Rufinus was appointedBishop of Assisi byPope St. Fabian; sufferedmartyrdom about 236; and was succeeded bySt. Victorinus. BothSt. Victorinus and his immediate successor, St. Sabinus, diedmartyrs, the latter being most cruelly beaten to death. Of thebishops who occupied the See of Assisi during the fifth and sixth centuries, one, Aventius, is worthy of mention. It was this heroicprelate who interceded (545) with Totila in behalf of the Assisians, and saved the city from the ravages of theOstrogothic army on its way toRome. In succeeding centuries mention is made of several Bishops of Assisi who were present atgeneral councils of theChurch. Thus, in 659, Aquilinus was summoned byPope Martin I to be present at the Lateran Council, convened for the purpose of formulating decrees against theMonothelites. In the seventh and eighth centuries Assisi fell under the power of the Lombard dukes, and in 773 was razed to the ground byCharlemagne for its determined resistance to him. He restored it, however, and at the same time all traces ofArianbelief and Lombard sympathies disappeared. About the same time the great castle, or Rocca d'Assisi, was built, which stronghold made the town thenceforth a great power in the political life of centralItaly. Bishop Hugo, whose episcopate lasted from 1036 to 1050, transferred the episcopal chair to thecathedral of San Rufino, which he himself raised over the little oratory beneath which the Saint's bones had rested for eight centuries. FromSts. Rufinus to the present incumbent of the See of Assisi, the Right Reverend Monsignor Ambrose Luddi, O. P., thebishops of that see have numbered some ninety-two; but of these some are little known, and the existence of others is more or less problematical. Assisi is chiefly famous as the birthplace ofSt. Francis. All the places sanctified by his presence have been preserved in their original state or transformed into sanctuaries. Foremost among these is the basilica of Our Lady of Angels, erected on the model ofSt. Peter's atRome through the beneficence ofPope St. Pius V, which shelters the famous littlechapel of thePorziuncula (Portiuncula), the cradle of theFranciscan Order, whereSt. Francis received the greatPerdono d'Assisi, more commonly known as thePortiuncula Indulgence. Within this basilica also stands the tiny cell in whichSt. Francis died, and which contains among other things the well-knownstatue byLuca della Robbia made after the Saint's death mask. St. Francis's remains now repose in the patriarchal basilica of San Francesco, erected through the exertions of Brother Elias, the first stone of which was laid byGregory IX, 25 July, 1228. Consecrated byInnocent IV, this church is composed of three sanctuaries, one over the other, and is one of the earliest specimens ofGothic architecture inItaly. "There is nothing like it", says Taine. "Before seeing it one has noidea of the art and genius of theMiddle Ages." It is difficult to overestimate the stimulus given to Italian art by the building of this great double basilica, in the decoration of which the foremostpainters of the day were engaged, includingCimabue andGiotto, whose famous mystical frescoes, illustrative of thevows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, adorn thelower church. The recent revival of widespread interest in all that concernsSt. Francis has made Assisi the goal of a new race of literary and artisticpilgrims. The splendours and associations of thebasilicas of San Francesco and Santa Maria degli Angeli tend to overshadow the other churches of Assisi. Thecathedral of San Rufino, mentioned above, which dates from 1140, is noted for its beautiful façade and possesses a font (the only one in Assisi) in which not onlySt. Francis andSt. Clare, but theEmperor Frederick II wasbaptized. The Chiesa Nuova, a Greek cross, surmounted by fivecupolas and standing on the site of St. Francis'sparental house, was built at the expense of Phillip III ofSpain, in 1615. Santa Chiara, a splendidGothicchurch of the thirteenth century, due to the genius of Filippo di Campello, contains the remains of St. Clare, the co-foundress withSt. Francis of Assisi of the Poor Ladies, orPoor Clares, as they are now called, and daughter of Count Favorino Scifi, an Assisian noble. Theconvent of St. Damian's in which theholyabbess lived, stands without the city and is little changed since her day. Aside from the churches andconvents, perhaps the most interesting monuments in Assisi are the remains of the temple of Minerva, a striking reminder of the Roman period, and the renowned castle known as the Rocca Magiore, dating, as it seems fromCharlemagne's time, and affording a magnificent panorama of Assisi and its vicinity. The population of the town now numbers 3,750.

Present status

The Diocese of Assisi now comprises four municipalities in the civil province ofPerugia (Umbria), besides twenty-six small hamlets and villages, each, with the exception of Porziano, having its church and residentpriest. There are 3educational institutions for boys, with 206 pupils; and one episcopalseminary, with 28 seminarists. There are 64secular priests, and 125priests ofreligious orders; while the faithful of thediocese number 28,500. There are 8monasteries of men and 18convents ofnuns. The churcheschapels, andoratories in the diocese number 190, with 35parishes in all. The Diocese of Assisi isimmediately subject to theHoly See, a privilege which it has enjoyed from remote antiquity.

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