CALTANISSETTA, DIOCESI of. — In Sicily, erected by Gregory XVI (25 May 1844) with jurisdiction over 17 municipalities, which until then had belonged to the dioceses of Agrigento (14), Nicosia (2), and Cefalù (1). Its first bishop was the Theatine A. M. Stromillo, nominated on 7 November 1844. When he died in 1858, he was succeeded by G. Guttadauro di Reburdone of Catania (August 1858–April 1895), who was the true organizer of the diocese; he took part in the First Vatican Council and was among the few who voted against the advisability of proclaiming papal infallibility, to which, nevertheless, he readily gave his adherence once it had been proclaimed. After Bishop I. Zuccaro (1896–1906), the diocese was governed by the Carmelite A. A. Intrecicalagli, first as titular bishop (1907–1913), then as apostolic administrator until the arrival of the present pastor (1949), Bishop G. Iacono, transferred from Molfetta on 18 March 1921.
The diocese has an area of 120,700 sq. km.; it has 175 diocesan priests, 40 regular priests, and 200,000 inhabitants, all Catholics, distributed among 30 parishes. The cathedral of S. Maria la Nuova, begun in 1570 and opened for worship in 1622, was decorated inside with the splendid, large frescoes of the Flemish painter G. Borremans, which constitute its principal distinction. In addition to S. Maria degli Angeli, or la Vetere (14th century), particularly important is the Norman abbey of S. Spirito outside the city, founded by Ruggero I and his wife Adelasia; its church was consecrated by Archbishop Giovanni of Bari in 1153.
storico per la Sicilia orientale, 9 (1912), pp. 327, 366; for the Benedictine abbeys in the diocese: Cottineau, I, col. 365. Mario Scaduto