Roman Catholic Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto

Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto Dioecesis Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti
Cathedral of San Benedetto del Tronto
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Fermo
Statistics
Area	456 km2 (176 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 137,135 130,696 (95.3%)
Parishes	54
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1 August 1571 (452 years ago)
Cathedral	Basilica Cattedrale di S. Maria della Marina (San Benedetto del Tronto)
Co-cathedral	Basilica Concattedrale di S. Gregorio Magno (Ripatransone) Basilica Concattedrale di S. Maria Assunta (Montalto Marche)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Rev. Msgr. Carlo Bresciani, Bishop-elect
Map
Website
www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it

The Italian Catholic Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti) in the Marche, has existed in its current form since 1986. In that year the Diocese of Montalto was united into the Diocese of Ripatransone-San Benedetto del Tronto, which was the renamed historical Diocese of Ripatransone (as of 1983). The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto is a suffragan see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fermo.

History

Ripatransone is on a hill called Cuprae Mons ("Mountain of Cupra", an ancient deity) in the past, and was a Picene settlement. The modern name comes probably from Ripa Trasonis, "Hill of Traso", from the name of the first feudal lord. The castle was erected there in the early Middle Ages, and enlarged later by the bishops of Fermo, who had several conflicts with the people.

In 1571 Pope Pius V made it an episcopal see, naming as its first bishop Cardinal Lucio Sassi or Sasso and including in its jurisdiction small portions of the surrounding diocese of Fermo, diocese of Ascoli Piceno, and diocese of Teramo.

Other bishops were:

• Cardinal Filippo Sega (1575);
• Gaspare Sillingardi (1582), afterwards Bishop of Modena, employed by Alfonso II of Ferrara on missions to Rome and to Spain;
• Gian Carlo Gentili (1845), historian of Sanseverino and Ripatransone;
• Alessandro Spoglia (1860–1867), not recognized by the Government.

On Monday, November 4, 2013, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Gervasio Gestori in accordance with Canon 401.1 of the Latin-rite Code of Canon Law, upon having reached the age of 75 at which Bishops must offer to retire. He will be succeeded by Bishop-elect Reverend Monsignor Carlo Bresciani, who up until now had been serving as a member of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia, where he was Rector of the Diocesan Seminary.

The diocese, at first directly subject to the Holy See, has been a suffragan see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fermo since 1680.

Bishops

Diocese of Ripatransone

Erected: 1 August 1571 from territory lost by both the Diocese of Fermo and the Territorial Abbey of Farfa
Latin Name: Ripana
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Fermo

• Lucio Sassi (1571–1575 Resigned)
• Filippo Sega (1575–1578 Appointed, Bishop of Piacenza)
• Niccolò Aragonio (Aragona) (1578–1579 Appointed, Bishop of Ascoli Piceno)
• Troilo Boncompagni (1579–1582 Appointed, Bishop of Foligno)
• Gaspare Silingardi (1582–1591 Resigned)
• Pompeo de Nobili (1591–1607 Died)
• Sebastiano Poggi (1607–1620 Resigned)
• Lorenzo Azzolini (1620–1632 Appointed, Bishop of Narni)
• Antonio Arrigoni, O.F.M. Obs. (1634–1636 Died)
• Niccolò Orsini (bishop) (1636–1653 Died)
• Ulisse Orsini (1654–1679 Died)
• Giovan Giorgio Mainardi (1680–1693 Died)
• Francesco Azzolini (1694–1694 Died)
• Pietro Alessandro Procaccini (1695–1704 Appointed, Bishop of Avellino e Frigento)
• Giosafatte (Giosafat) Battistelli (1705–1717 Appointed, Bishop of Foligno)
• Gregorio Lauri (1717–1726 Appointed, Bishop of Ascoli Piceno)
• Francesco Andrea Correa, Sch. P. (1726–1738 Died)
• Giacomo Costa, C.R. (1739–1747 Appointed, Bishop of Belluno)
• Luca Niccolò Recchi (1747–1765 Died)
• Bartolomeo Bitozzi (1765–1779 Died)
• Bartolomeo Bacher (1779–1813 Died)
• Michelangelo Calmet (1816–1817 Died)
• Ignazio Ranaldi, C.O. (1818–1819 Appointed, Archbishop of Urbino)
• Filippo Monacelli (1824–1828 Appointed, Bishop of Pesaro)
• Filippo Appignanesi (1830–1837 Died)
• Martino Caliendi (1842–1845 Appointed, Bishop of Montefeltro)
• Giovanni Carlo Gentili (1845–1847 Appointed, Bishop of Pesaro)
• Camillo de' Marchesi Bisleti (1847–1854 Appointed, Bishop of Tarquinia e Civitavecchia)
• Fidelis Bufarini (1854–1860 Appointed, Bishop of Comacchio)
• Alessandro Paolo Spoglia (1860–1867 Appointed, Bishop of Comacchio)
• Francesco Alessandrini (1871–1881 Died)
• Giuseppe Ceppetelli (Cepetelli) (1882–1890 Appointed, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome)
• Giacinto Nicolai (1890–1899 Resigned)
• Raniero Sarnari (1900–1902 Appointed, Bishop of Macerata e Tolentino)
• Luigi Boschi (1902–1924 Died)
• Luigi Ferri (1924–1946 Retired)
• Pietro Ossola (1946–1951 Resigned)
• Vincenzo Radicioni (1951–1983 Retired)

Diocese of Ripatransone-San Benedetto del Tronto

Name Changed: 7 April 1983
Latin Name: Ripana-Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum

• Giuseppe Chiaretti (1983–1995 Appointed, Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve)

Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto

United 30 September 1986 with the Diocese of Montalto delle Marche
Latin Name: Sancti Benedicti ad Truentum-Ripana-Montis Alti

• Gervasio Gestori (1996–2013 Retired)
• Carlo Bresciani (2013–)

Co-cathedrals

Cathedral of Ripatransone (left) Cathedral of Montalto delle Marche (right)

Notes

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)