In 314 Epictetus, its bishop, was present at theCouncil of Arles.[4] Another Epictetus, Bishop of Centumcellæ towards the middle of the fourth century, was anArian and a counsellor ofEmperor Constantius.
In 813, Centumcellae suffered a massive attack by the Moors; the city was captured, sacked, and burned.[5] The survivors wandered for forty years in the forests and mountains. Pope Leo IV, needing a secure port on theTyrrhenian Sea, built a new fortified city 13 km (8 mi) away from the ruins of Centumcellae, which he dedicated in 853. The inhabitants preferred the old location of their town, and gradually returned and rebuilt.[6]
By 1086 the see of Civitavecchia was united with thediocese of Toscanella, resulting in one bishop governing two separate dioceses,aeque personaliter.[7]
By 1092 Civitavecchia e Toscanella was united with thediocese of Viterbo in the person of Bishop Riccardus, who died in that year or earlier.[8] Carlo Calisse points out that there is no evidence at all from 1050 to 1093 concerning the bishops of Civitavecchia, during which time the change must have taken place. A bull of Pope Celestine V, however, mentions that Pope Celestine III carried out the union, "just as was contained in the documents of his predecessor."[9] Paul Fridolin Kehr points out that Cardinal Joannes of S. Clemente signs himself "Tuscanensis episcopus" until August 1192, and then from 4 October 1192 signs himself "Viterbiensis et Tuscanensis episcopus.[10] The diocese of Civitavecchia was not suppressed but was held by a bishop who held three dioceses at the same time.[11]
On 12 December 1825, in the bull "De Dominici Gregis",Pope Leo XII re-established the see, separating its territory from the diocese of Viterbo and uniting it to the diocese ofPorto and Santa Rufina.[12]
In 1854 the union with Santa Rufina was severed, and Civitavecchia was united with the diocese ofCorneto (Tarquinia).[13][14] From 1854 to 1986, the united dioceses were known asTarquinia e Civitaveccia.
In a decree of theSecond Vatican Council, it was recommended that dioceses be reorganized to take into account modern developments.[15] 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 dioceses of Tarquinia and Civitavecchia, which had up to that point shared a single bishop while retaining two diocesan structures, were united into a single diocese. Its name was to beDioecesis Centumcellarum-Tarquiniensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Civitavecchia. The former cathedral in Tarquinia was to have the honorary title of co-cathedral, and its Chapter was to be 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 Civitavecchia-Tarquinia.[16] Bishop Girolamo Grillo continued as bishop of the newly united diocese.
^C. Munier,Concilia Galliae, A. 314 – A. 506 (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 15: "Acpitetus episcopus a Centocellis."; p. 17: "Ex Gentium cellis Epictatus episcopus."; p. 19: "Et a Centucellis Epistitus episcopus."; p. 20: "A Centumcellas Epictatus episcopus."
^Einhard,Annales, a. 813: "Mauri Centumcellas, Tusciae civitatem, vastaverunt": (Monumenta Germaniae Historica,Scriptorum Tomus I,Annales_et_Chronica_Aevi_Carolini, p. 200).
^Celestine III became pope in March or April 1191. Ughelli,Italia sacra Volume I, p. 1402: "...prout in ipsius predecessoris literis plenius continetur."
^Leo XII (1854).Bullarii Romani continuatio (in Latin). Vol. Tomus decimus sextus. Rome. pp. 363–366, no. CXIII.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^No bishops of Corneto are known for the ancient Christian period; it was made a diocese in 1435. Umberto Benigni (1908),"Civitavecchia and Corneto,"The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3 (New York: Robert Appleton Company); retrieved: 22 May 2019.
^Directoriae normae clare a Concilio impertitae de dioecesium recognitione; indicia atque elementa apta ad actionem pastoralem aestimandam ab episcopis suppeditata quibus plurium dioecesium regimen commissum est.
^Acta Apostolicae SedisAn. et Vol. LXXIX (Città del Vaticano: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1987), pp. 682-685.
^Ughelli,Italia sacra X, p. 56. Gams, p. XI. Lanzoni, p. 520 no. 1.
^Ughelli,Italia sacra X, p. 56. Gams, p. XI. Lanzoni, pp. 520-521 no. 2.
^Ughelli,Italia sacra X, p. 56. Gams, p. XI. Lanzoni, p. 521 no. 3.
^Ughelli,Italia sacra X, p. 56. Gams, p. XI. Lanzoni, p. 520 no. 4.
^Pope Pelagius I (556–561) wrote to Bishop Laurentius, ordering him to carry out ordinations. Cappelletti, p. 532. Kehr,Italia pontificia II, p. 201 no. 1.
^Cappelletti, p. 532. J. Fraikin, "Anagni,"Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques Tome deuxième (Paris: Letouzey 1914), p. 1422.
^Bishop Stephanus attended the Lateran council ofPope Stephen III in 769. J.D. Mansi (ed.),Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima,Tomus XII, p. 715, records the presence of a bishop of Centumcellae at the Lateran Council of 769, but not his name. The name Stephen is provided in manuscripts used by Albert Merninghoff, in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Legum sectio III Concilia, Tomi II, pars prior (Hannover Hahn 1904), pp. 75 line 28; 81 line 3: "Stephanus episcopus civitate Centumcellas".
^Bishop Dominicus was present at the Roman synod of December 853. He was also present at the synod of Ravenna of 861. J.D. Mansi (ed.),Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima,Tomus XIV, p. 1020;Tomus XV, pp. 603-604. Cappelletti, p. 533. Monumenta Germaniae Historica,Concilia Tomus III, Die Konzilien der karolingischen Teilreiche DCCCXLIII – DCCCLIX, (Wilfried Hartmann, ed.), Hannover: Hahn 1984, p. 336.
^The chronicle of theAbbey of Farfa records that Bishop Valentinus consecrated the church of S. Maria al Mignone, which belonged to the abbey: ".... et nominatim Valentinus centumcellensis aepiscopus ipsam ecclesìam consecravit ...." Calisse, p. 105.
^Bishop Petrus attended the Roman synod ofPope Benedict VIII on 3 January 1015. Schwartz, p. 257.
^Bishop Azo was present at the Roman synod ofPope Benedict IX on 2 November 1036. He was also present at the Roman synod ofPope Leo IX on 2 May 1050. Schwartz, p. 257.
^A commemorative inscription in the church of S. Pietro (the former cathedral of Toscanella), dated 1093, reads: RICCARDUS PRAESUL TUSCANUS CENTUMCELLICUS ATQUE BLEDANUS. Calisse, p. 107, note 1. Ughelli, p. 57. Schwartz, p. 256. Ughelli,Italia sacra X, p. 180, reports: "Ricardus praesul Tuscanus, Centumcellicus, et Bleranus erat an. 1086, ex quoddam donationis documento die 4. septembris eijusdem anni." By 4 October 1192, the Bishop of Viterbo and Tuscanella was Cardinal Joannes of S. Clemente (Kehr, II, p. 208).
^Cardinale was appointed titular Archbishop of Laodicea in Phrygia on 3 Feb 1910
^On 12 May 1917 Fiorani was appointed Bishop of Osimo e Cingoli.
^On 20 Aug 1983 Mazza was appointed Bishop of Piacenza.
^Marucchi's letter of retirement was accepted on 18 June 2020.
^Ruzza was born in 1963 in Lugnana in Teverina, in the diocese and province of Rome. He studied at the Major Roman Seminary, and obtained a licentiate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University. He was appointed titular bishop of Subaugusta on 8 April 2016, and named Auxiliary Bishop of Rome. He was named Bishop of Civitavecchia-Tarquinia on 18 June 2020. Vatican Press Office,"Daily Bulletin, 20 June 2020: Appointments"; retrieved 20 June 2020.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Civitavecchia and Corneto".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
