Cagli e Pergola, Diocese of

CAGLI E PERGOLA, Diocese of. - In the Marche, in the province of Pesaro, suffragan of Urbino. The ancient Callium, perhaps derived from a station on the Via Flaminia (ad Cale), was an episcopal see only from the 8th century, because no certain assignment is possible for certain bishops attributed to it earlier, and on the other hand the ancient see must have been Pitinum (Pitinum Morgens, a short distance from C.), whose first bishop, who took part in the Roman Synod of 499, was, in all likelihood, Romanus. Giovanni, legate of Pope John VIII at Ravenna, was one of the first and most distinguished bishops properly of C., which succeeded Pitinum. In 1563 Pius IV made it a suffragan of the diocese of Urbino, and in 1819 Pius VII united to it the new church of P. The city and its territory, after being extensively contested between Lombards and Byzantines, belonged to the temporal domain of the Roman Church in its first establishment. Later subjected to the lordship of Urbino, with the end of that lordship in 1631, C. returned definitively to the Holy See.

Among the religious institutions situated in the territory of the diocese, the abbey of St. Gerontius must be remembered; it has a particular historical importance, being connected with the most ancient Christian memories of the place, such as the cult of St. Gerontius, whom a legend identified with the bishop of Cervia of the 5th century (BHL, 3489 b), but who may not be excluded from being called a local saint. The abbey, earlier than the 8th century, united to the episcopal mensa by Nicholas IV, was destroyed in 1481.

The ancient Cathedral fell into ruin, because of an earthquake, in 1781. In the church of St. Francis the artistic portal of the year 1427 is notable, and in that of St. Angelo the graceful 15th-century portico. The town of P. as well, of medieval origin, possesses monumental churches, among which are St. Francis, St. James and St. Roch. The chapter archive at the cathedral of St. Mary possesses documents of considerable value, especially the collection relating to the abbey of St. Gerontius.

At present the diocese comprises, in 501 sq. km. of surface, 53 parishes, 64 diocesan priests, 12 regular priests and 34,058 Catholics out of 34,102 inhabitants (1948).

Serafino Prete