Comacchio, Diocese of (COMACCHIO, DIOCESI DI) - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, p. 45

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

COMACCHIO, DIOCESI di. — Episcopal see of Emilia, in the province of Ferrara, suffragan of Ravenna. Its origin has often been traced back to the sixth century, assigning as the first holder of the diocese Bishop Pacaziano (502), who in fact belonged to Imola. Likewise, another anonymous bishop of 592 derives from a spurious diploma of Gregory the Great to Mariniano, bishop of Ravenna (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1883 a.).

The first historically attested bishop of C. is Vincenzo, living in the eighth century, as attested by an inscription existing in the cathedral of C., which calls him con-

Article illustration — (from A. Beltramelli, Da C. ad Argenta, Bergamo 1885, p. 48) COMACCHIO, diocesi di — Inscription of Bishop Vincenzo (eighth century), discovered in the cathedral.

temporary with the archbishop of Ravenna Felice (708–724). Subsequently, mention is made of Vitale in a diploma of Charlemagne from 787; of Cipriano, who in 858 subscribed a constitution in favor of the monastery of Palazziola; and of Stefano, appointed by John VIII and mentioned in two diplomas of that same Pope to Count Berengario. As suffragans of Ravenna, the bishops of C. often took part in the synods of the metropolitan see; thus, for example: Orso (954), Giorgio (997), succeeded by Giovanni, of whom s. Pier Damiani speaks, and who died as a penitent in the monastery of Pomposa. C. took part in the Guibertist schism (Clement III) under Bishop Adalberto, who signed his documents with the date of the antipope. Likewise, during the Western Schism, C. became a field of contention among the popes who were struggling with one another.

The situation was normalized with the elevation of Martin V to the throne. The popes first exercised authority over the duchy of C.; in the tenth century it was held by the empress Adelaide, after whose death Gregory V entrusted it to Gerberto, archbishop of Ravenna. In more recent times it was the object of lengthy disputes between the Holy See and Austria, and in the eighteenth century much ink was spilled concerning the rights of the Church and the Empire over the duchy.

Among the ancient abbeys in the territory of C. that exercised a notable influence on medieval Italian religious life, the following should be mentioned: S. Maria in Aula Regia (Benedictine), already flourishing in the tenth century, later fallen into neglect and restored in the fifteenth century by Bishop Mainardino; S. Giacomo de Cella Volana; Pomposa (v.), existing in 874 but of much more remote origins, and often the object of imperial and royal privileges.

It produced such representative figures as Pier Damiani and the musician Guido d'Arezzo. Having declined, partly because of the unhealthy climate, it was later converted into a secular provostry under Alexander VI and Innocent VIII.
The cathedral of C., dedicated to S. Cassiano, was rebuilt by Bishop Sigismondo Isei in 1659 and completed by his successor Nicolò Arcani.

The diocese, covering an area of 1,600 sq. km., has 27 parishes, with a population of 73,000 inhabitants, all Catholics, 27 diocesan priests, and 10 religious priests (1948).

BIBL.: G. F. Ferro, Istoria dell'antica città di C., Ferrara 1701; G. Fontanini, Il dominio temporale della sede apostolica sopra la città di C., Roma 1709; id., Difesa seconda sul dominio temporale della sede apostolica sopra la città di C., there 1711; Ughelli, II, pp. 481–89; Cappelletti, II, pp. 579–624; F. Lanzoni Il primo vescovo di C., in Atti e memorie della R. Deputazione di storia patria per le provincie di Romagna, 3rd series, 27 (1909), pp. 62–70; Lanzoni, p. 819; P. Kehr, Italia pontificia, V, Berlin 1911, pp. 174–87; Pastor, XV, p. 50 and passim.

Mario Scaduto