CEFALÙ, DIOCESE of. — In Sicily, province of Palermo, suffragan of Palermo. Its jurisdiction today extends over 22 municipalities in the province of Palermo and includes 184 churches, 36 parishes, 142 diocesan priests, 38 regular priests, and 130,000 inhabitants (1948).
Of Byzantine foundation, the bishopric of C. dates back to the 8th century; it is in fact found on the official Byzantine lists as forming part of the eparchy of Sicily, with Syracuse as its metropolitan see, under the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople (cf. G. Parthey, Hierocles Synecedmos et notitiae graecae episcopatum, Berlin 1866, p. 178), and the reason given is that the Pope is subject to the barbarians, that is, to the Franks. But with the Muslim invasion, the Church was destroyed in the 9th century and the hierarchy dispersed. The diocese was reorganized after the Norman conquest in the time of Roger II and was a consequence of the agreement between the king of Sicily and Anacletus II. Messina was elevated to a metropolitan see on 14 September 1131 with two suffragans, Lipari and C., erected on the same day (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 8422-23). The new diocese, over which Roger II placed the monk Jocelmo, a Benedictine of S. Maria di Bagnara, was soon endowed with privileges and exemptions, and in 1145 the bishop was granted full authority as feudal bishop over the city of C. After Anacletus’s death, the Holy See refused to recognize the new reorganization of the Sicilian Churches carried out by Roger, consequently denying investiture to the bishops, including Jocelmo. The disagreements disappeared with the accession of Alexander III, who granted William II the elevation of Messina to an archbishopric, with C. as its suffragan (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 11.897).
The appointment of the bishops of C. became a right of royal patronage. The possessions and privileges of the diocese, increased by Henry VI and the Empress Constance, were disregarded by Frederick II, who exiled Bishop Arduino in 1123.
During the struggle between the Angevins and the Aragonese for possession of Sicily, the bishops of C. often took the side of the latter, thereby incurring the disapproval of the popes. Thus Bishop Giovanni (1275–84), who succeeded the Frenchman Pietro Taura, was excommunicated by Martin IV for having crowned Peter of Aragon king of Sicily (1 August 1283); four years later, the same fate befell his successor Giunta, chaplain to King Peter. Because he had taken part in the coronation of Peter’s son James, Honorius IV deprived him of the bishopric (cf. Registres d'Honorius IV, ed. Prou, Paris 1886, p. 561), and Boniface VIII censured him for continuing to conduct himself as a bishop. During this period of Angevin-Aragonese struggles, the bishops were not recognized by the Holy See until the election of the Franciscan Biagio Galgano (1342–51), who was the first bishop canonically appointed after Giunta. Although generally devoted to the crown, the bishops of C. were at times involved in disputes of a political nature, as happened with the Franciscan Roberto Campolo, who took part in the rebellion of Francesco Ventimiglia (1337) against Peter II, and with Guglielmo Salomone, who sided, together with the entire diocese, with Antonio Ventimiglia against King Martin in 1396. Others worthy of remembrance are: the Dominican Antonio Ponticorona (1423–1445), formerly inquisitor of the faith under Boniface IX, and Alfonso of Aragon’s deputy to the Council of Constance in 1424; the Messinese Giovanni Gatto (1472–1484), celebrated for his learning, a friend of Bessarion and employed by Ferdinand II in diplomatic negotiations at the papal court; Cardinal Raimondo de Vich (1518–25) and his successor Francesco d'Aragona, nephew of Alfonso II, created cardinal by Julius III in 1550; the Messinese Antonio Faraone (1561–68), known for his reforming activity and holy life; and likewise Francesco Gonzaga of the dukes of Mantua, who established the diocesan seminary, the first of its kind in Sicily, zealous for reform and an austere man. In more recent times: Domenico Valguarnera (1732–51), Gioacchino Castello (1735–88), and the Theatine Francesco Vanni (1789–1803).
ABBEYS AND MONASTERIES. – Within the diocese, the priories of S. Maria de Latina near Polizzi and S. Stefano at Mistretta once flourished; as did the abbey of S. Maria di Montemaggiore, founded in 1487, from which the town of the same name arose; S. Maria di Sparto, S. Maria di Pedali, S. Lucia di Pettineo; and the Premonstratensian abbey of S. Giorgio di Gratteri. Especially celebrated is the priory of S. Maria di Gibilmanna, founded in 1228 by Bishop Arduino and placed under the rule of the Canons Regular of S. Augustine; it passed in 1584 to the Capuchins, who still reside there as custodians of the popular shrine of Our Lady of Gibilmanna.
MONUMENTS. — The oldest monument of C. is the so-called temple of Diana (9th–8th century B.C.), followed by the walls known as Pelasgian (5th–4th century B.C.). C., however, possesses one of the most representative monuments of Norman art: the Cathedral, whose construction, begun in 1131 by Ruggero II, was completed in 1148. The façade is by Giovanni Panettera (1240), closed by two colossal lateral towers of four stories, the uppermost of which terminates in a pyramid. The façade, preceded by an atrium with three arches, rebuilt by Ambrogio da Como (15th century), is decorated with two tiers of arches resting on small columns. The interior is a grand Latin cross with three naves and three apses, divided by 16 columns with capitals, partly Roman and partly Byzantine, supporting slender pointed arches. The mosaics of the central apse and presbytery are among the oldest and most finely executed in Sicily. Beneath the colossal bust of Christ Pantocrator, which occupies the apse vault, are the Madonna flanked by four archangels and, in the two tiers below, the figures of the Apostles; while on the side walls, arranged in four parallel tiers, are figures of saints, warriors and prophets, bishops and deacons. Adjacent to the Cathedral stands the cloister, with arches supported by paired columns bearing figurative capitals. — Vedi Tav. LXXV.