CEFALÙ, DIOCESE OF. - In Sicily, in the province of Palermo, a suffragan of Palermo. Today its jurisdiction extends over 22 communes in the province of Palermo and comprises 184 churches, 36 parishes, 142 diocesan priests, 38 regular priests, and 130,000 inhabitants (1948).
Of Byzantine origin, the see of Cefalù dates back to the 8th century; it appears in official Byzantine lists as part of the eparchy of Sicily with Syracuse as its metropolitan see, under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople (cf. G. Parthey, *Hierocles Synedēmos et notitia graeca episcopatuum*, Berlin 1866, p. 178), and the reason given is that the Pope is subject to barbarians, i.e., the Franks. With the Muslim invasion in the 9th century, the Church was destroyed and its hierarchy dispersed. The diocese was reorganized after the Norman conquest under Roger II, as a result of an agreement between the King of Sicily and Anacletus II. Messina was elevated to a metropolitan see on 14 September 1131, with two suffragan sees, Lipari and Cefalù, established on the same day (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 8422-23). The new diocese, to which Roger II appointed the Benedictine monk Jocelmus from Santa Maria di Bagnara, was soon endowed with privileges and exemptions, and in 1145 the bishop was granted full feudal authority over the city of Cefalù. After Anacletus’ death, the Holy See refused to recognize the new reorganization of Sicilian churches made by Roger, thus denying investiture to bishops including Jocelmus. The disputes ended with the accession of Alexander III, who granted William II the elevation of Messina to an archbishopric with Cefalù as its suffragan (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 11.897).
The appointment of bishops of Cefalù became a royal patronage right. The possessions and privileges of the diocese, augmented by Henry VI and Empress Constance, were disregarded by Frederick II, who in 1223 exiled Bishop Arduino.
During the struggle between the Angevins and the Aragonese for control of Sicily, the bishops of Cefalù often sided with the latter, incurring papal disapproval. Thus, Bishop Giovanni (1275–84), who succeeded the Frenchman Peter Taurus, was excommunicated by Martin IV for having crowned Peter of Aragon, King of Sicily (1 August 1283), and four years later his successor Giunta, chaplain to King Peter, suffered the same fate for participating in the coronation of Peter’s son James; Honorius IV deposed him from the see (cf. *Registres d'Honorius IV*, ed. Prou, Paris 1886, p. 561), and Boniface VIII reproached him for continuing to act as bishop. During this period of Angevin-Aragonese conflict, the bishops were not recognized by the Holy See until the election of the Franciscan Blasius Galganus (1342–51), who was the first bishop canonically instituted after Giunta. Generally loyal to the crown, the bishops of Cefalù were sometimes involved in political disputes, as with the Franciscan Robert Campolo, who took part in the rebellion of Francis Ventimiglia (1337) against Peter II, and William Solomon, who sided with the entire diocese in favor of Anthony Ventimiglia against King Martin in 1396.
Notable bishops include: the Dominican Anthony Ponticorona (1423–1445), already inquisitor of the faith under Boniface IX and delegate of Alfonso of Aragon at the Council of Constance in 1424; the Messinese John Gatto (1472–1484), celebrated for his learning, a friend of Bessarion, and employed by Ferdinand II in diplomatic missions at the papal court; Cardinal Raymond de Vich (1518–25) and his successor Francis of Aragon, nephew of Alfonso II, created cardinal by Julius III in 1550; the Messinese Anthony Faraone (1561–68), known for his reforming zeal and holy life; likewise Francesco Gonzaga of the dukes of Mantua, who founded the diocesan seminary, the first of its kind in Sicily, and was zealous for reform and austerity. More recent bishops include: Dominic Valguarnera (1732–51), Joachim Castello (1735–88), and the Theatine Francis Vanni (1789–1803).
**Abbots and Monasteries.** - Within the diocese once flourished the priories of Santa Maria de Latina near Polizzi, of Santo Stefano at Mistretta; the abbey of Santa Maria di Montemaggiore, founded in 1487 and from which the town of the same name arose; Santa Maria di Sparto, Santa Maria di Pedali, Santa Lucia di Pertineo, and the Premonstratensian abbey of San Giorgio di Gratteri. Most famous is the priory of Santa Maria di Gibilmanna, founded in 1228 by Bishop Arduino and placed under the rule of the Augustinian Canons Regular; in 1584 it passed to the Capuchins, who still reside there as custodians of the popular sanctuary of the Madonna di Gibilmanna.
**Monuments.** - The oldest monument of Cefalù is the so-called Temple of Diana (9th–8th century BCE), followed by the so-called Pelasgic walls (5th–4th century BCE). But Cefalù possesses one of the most representative monuments of Norman art: the Cathedral, whose construction, begun by Roger II in 1131, was completed in 1148. The façade, designed by Giovanni Panettera (1240), is flanked by two colossal four-storey towers, the upper storey terminating in a pyramid. Preceded by a three-arched atrium, restored by Ambrose of Como (15th century), the façade is adorned with two tiers of arches 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 tall pointed arches. The mosaics of the central apse and the presbytery are among the oldest and most refined in execution to be found in Sicily. Beneath the colossal bust of Christ Pantocrator, which occupies the apse conch, is the Virgin flanked by four archangels, and in two lower tiers 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 is the cloister, with arches supported by paired columns with figured capitals. — See Plate LXXV.
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