Roman Catholic Diocese of Policastro
17), the elder Pliny gives a list of the peoples of Lucania, in alphabetical order: "Mediterranei Lucanorum Atinates, Bantini, Grumentini, Potentini, Sontini, Sirini, Tergilani Ursentini, quibus Numestrani junguntur."
[7] On 22 July 1051, Pope Leo IX issued the bull "Officium Sacerdotale", in which he confirmed the metropolitan status of the archbishops of Salerno, and the privilege of ordering and consecrating the bishops of Paestum, Nola, Conza, Cosenza, and Bisignano.
[10] Pietro da Pappacarbone (1079), a Benedictine of Cava de' Tirreni,[11] resigned after governing the diocese for thirty years, and was succeeded by Arnaldus on 17 February 1110.
The cathedral was administered by a corporation called the Chapter, consisting of two dignities (the Archdeacon and the Cantor) and ten Canons.
The emperor (per regis familiares) rejected the bishop-elect, as well as all the other possible candidates named by the canons, and made it clear that he wished them to nominate his physician, Jacopo.
They then applied to the archbishop of Salerno, the metropolitan for confirmation and consecration, presenting him with letters from Frederick and from Cardinal Gregory of S. Teodoro, the papal legate.
Pope Innocent III suspended action on the cases of the bishops of Policastro and of Sarno, since he wanted to send nuncios to the king.
Pope Innocent then declared the election of Jacopo as contrary to canon law, as well as to the concordat which he had negotiated with Constance, Queen of Sicily, and therefore void.
He informed the bishop of Capaccio and the abbot of Cava as to what had been taking place, and ordered them to observe his rulings, and authorized them to impose ecclesiastical censures on those who violated them.
The bull cites, as a contributory reason, that he had left numerous dioceses without a bishop in his realms, including Policastro.
In July 1552, the Ottoman fleet of 123 ships, led by Dragut Rais, ravaged the entire coast and besieged Policastro for three days.
[19] Similar fates struck Vibonati, Santa Marina, San Giovanni a Piro, Torre Orsaia, and Roccagloriosa.
[20] In 1664, sufficiently grave charges as to the conduct of the bishop of Policastro, Filippo Jacobio, in the territory of Orsaia, that Pope Alexander VII, on 1 December 1664, issued a commission to his nuncio in Naples, Giulio Spinola, Archbishop of Laodicea, to launch an investigation and open legal proceedings against the bishop.
[22] He therefore began to rebuild the episcopal palace at Orsaia, a town with a population of c. 1,500, where he preferred to live rather than in Policastro, which was nearly deserted and falling apart.
[35] The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses.
