Roman Catholic Diocese of Ostuni

[4] From 1250 to 1258, Ostuni belonged to the principate of Taranto, under Manfred, the son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

A delegation of clergy and laity was immediately sent to Rome to complain to Pope Pius and to petition him to rescind the losses they had suffered because of "De Ulteriori'.

[10] Impressed by their statements, Pius authorized consultations with the SC Consistorial and with the Commission for the Implementation of the Concordat, and other advisors.

[12] In accordance with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, the Episcopal Conference of Apulia petitioned the Holy See (Pope) that Lecce, which had seen a tremendous increase in population and had become the capital of an Italian civic province, be made a metropolitan and that a new ecclesiastical province be created.

After wide consultations among all affected parties, Pope John Paul II issued a decree on 20 October 1980, elevating Lecce to the status of metropolitan see.

Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation.

According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished.