CAMPAGNA, DIOCESE of. - In the province of Salerno, C. rises on the southern slopes of the Monti Picentini, in a gorge crossed by the Tenza. Its historical importance dates back to the time of Greek civilization; abandoned in ancient times, the present-day city is said to have been built by inhabitants of the banks of the Sele who, harassed by the Saracens, had taken refuge in this locality. On 19 June 1525, at the request of Carlo V, Clemente VII, by the bull Pro Excellenti, raised the collegiate church of S. Maria della Pace in C. to cathedral rank, thus creating the episcopal see, which he united « aeque et principaliter » to Satriano, then in ruins and in whose territory C. stood. Its first prelate was the Dominican Cherubino Gaetano, bishop of Satriano from 1521 and deceased in 1545.
In the 17th century the diocese was a suffragan of Salerno. In 1818 the diocese of Satriano was suppressed and C. passed into perpetual administration under Conza, from which it was separated on 30 Sept. 1921.
Among the most important churches are: the S.ma Trinità, S. Salvatore, and S. Bartolomeo. In the territory of the diocese are the abbey of S. Cataldo, founded about 1160 by Romualdo II, archbishop of Salerno, and the Benedictine abbey of S. Maria Nuova.
The diocese, immediately subject to the S. Sede, includes several municipalities in the province of Potenza and the others in that of Salerno, over an area of 96 sq. km.; it has 28 parishes, 49 diocesan priests and 11 regular clergy, and 69,102 inhabitants, all Catholic (1948).
Noemi Crostarosa Scipioni