COMO, DIOCESE OF. - In Lombardy it forms part of the province of Como; it comprises the entire province of Sondrio (area 3,123 sq. km) and also the valleys of Marchirolo and Cuvio with Saltrio from the province of Varese; originally it also included Poschiavo in the canton of the Grisons and the entire canton of Ticino, the latter being detached in 1886.
In 1858 the diocese consisted of 507 parishes (178 in Como and its province, 140 in Sondrio and its province, 186 in the canton of Ticino and 2 in the canton of the Grisons), 2,122 priests, 360,089 faithful; at present (1948) it has 360 parishes, 605 diocesan priests and 260 regular clergy for 379,600 faithful out of a total population of 380,000. There are 15 male religious congregations, 35 female, 2 seminaries and 2 minor seminaries. The bishop held the title of count; the patron saint of the diocese is St. Abbondio, whose feast is celebrated on 2 April; the cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I. HISTORY
Como first appears in history around 196 BC; in 87 BC it enjoyed Latin rights, and under Julius Caesar it took the name *Novum Comum*; it became a Roman colony.Narses (d. 568) made it a stronghold of defense; subsequently it became a county and the bishop was at the head of the new political entity; around 1100 the commune arose.
Como, destroyed in the struggle against Milan (1118-27), was soon rebuilt and recognized as independent in the Peace of Constance (1183). This was followed by the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, exacerbated by the factions of the Rusconi and Vittani with repercussions from the Visconti and the Torriani; the Rusconi yielded Como (1335) to Azzone Visconti; in 1447 the Republic of St. Abbondio was proclaimed; in the Franco-Spanish-Ducal disputes it was sacked (1521) by the Pescara. For two centuries Como remained under Spanish rule, then (1714) with the Peace of Radstadt it was assigned to Austria; incorporated into the Cisalpine Republic in 1798, it returned to Austria in 1814 and in 1859 was annexed to Piedmont; in 1927, after the district of Varese was removed, it remained with 224 communes and 456,988 inhabitants in an area of approximately 2,668 sq. km. (Grande illustraz., 111, Milan 1859, p. 746).
Among the many celebrities connected with Como, the following stand out: Gaius Pliny the Elder (23-79), Caecilius Pliny the Younger (64-118), Paolo Giovio the historian (1483-1552), Benedetto Giovio the historian and poet (d. 1544), Alessandro Volta (1745-1827).
II. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
The origins of Christianity in Como are obscure; the first bishop, St. Felix, was consecrated in 379 by St. Ambrose, converted many citizens to the faith and inaugurated the first church on the Baradelle hill, where he established his see. Until 1945 the diocese had 110 bishops, of whom 4 were honored with the cardinal’s hat and 8 belonged to religious orders.Noteworthy among them are St. Provino and St. Amanzio (450-89); St. Abbondio (q.v.), who organized the diocese, destroyed pagan cults along the shores of Lake Como and on the island of Comacina, and extended his influence into the Valtellina, for which he was declared patron saint. Under Agrippino the diocese, due to its adherence to the Three Chapters schism, passed from the ecclesiastical province of Milan to that of Aquileia, from which it adopted the patriarchal rite. After the schism ended, Como remained subject to Aquileia. Titles and privileges were granted and increased by Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, Lothair, etc. Peter III attended the Roman Council of 998; Guido Grimoldi (1096-1126) had as his opponent the pseudo-bishop of the imperial faction, Landolfo Caracono; under Bl. William della Torre and Umberto Sala, the Dominicans and Franciscans were introduced into the diocese, and under Benedetto da Asinago the Augustinians. During the Western Schism (1378-1415) the diocese remained loyal to the Roman Pope until the election of the Pisan pope Alexander V (1409-1410); Bishop Turconi submitted to Martin V; Giannantonio Volpi (1559-88) with the Franciscans of Milan strongly resisted the heretics in the Valtellina; there, on 4 September 1618, the archpriest of Sondrio, Niccolò Rusca, won the crown of martyrdom. Paolo Cernuschi (1739-46) established the seminary of St. Ursula, and Carlo Romano the seminary of St. Abbondio.
During the Middle Ages, until 1223, the bishop was appointed by the canons of the cathedral together with the abbots of the three Como abbeys: St. Abbondio, St. Carpoforo, and St. Giuliano.
The patriarchal rite gave way to the Roman rite during the episcopate of Filippo Archinti (1595-1621); Benedict XIV in 1751 restored the diocese as a suffragan of Milan.
The episcopal see remained at St. Carpoforo until around 480; St. Abbondio transferred it to the SS. Apostoli (from 818 at St. Abbondio), and from 1093 in the city to St. Mary, where the present cathedral stands.
The diocese has famous shrines, frequented by pilgrims: the basilica of the Holy Cross in Como, the Madonna of Tirano, St. Mary of Succour at Lento, Gallivaggio above Chiavenna, and St. Mary of Tears at Dongo.
III. DISTINGUISHED PERSONS
Como was the birthplace of Ven. Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi, d. 1689); 13 cardinals, including Tolomeo Gallio (d. 1607); Antonio Rusconi, general of the Franciscans (d. 1449); the martyr Nicolò Rusca; Daniele Casoni OFM, Spanish statesman (d. 1654); Primo Luigi Tatti, a Somasco (d. 1676); and Giuseppe Rovelli (d. 1813), distinguished historians; Fra Emanuele da Como, painter (17th cent.); Don Santo Monti, notable modern historian; Ven. Luigi Guanella (d. 1915), founder of the Servants of Charity and the Daughters of St. Mary of the Presentation.IV. ABBEYS AND MONASTERIES
Como is renowned for its ancient abbeys, monasteries, and male and female religious houses. In the city: the Benedictine abbeys of St. Abbondio (1010), St. Carpoforo (1040), St. Giuliano (1055); the monastery of St. Michael of the Benedictine nuns at Monte Olimpino (1164); the prepositura of the Humiliati (1134), known as Rendiconto, motherhouse of other houses; the monastery of St. Benedict of Monte Oltreone in Val Perlasca (1083); St. Mary at Torello (Lugano) of the Canons Regular (1217); St. Mary of Acquafredda of the Cistercians above Lento (c. 1142); Cluniac priories: St. Peter of Vallate (Cosio) in Valtellina (1078), St. Nicholas of Piona on Lake Como (1110); the collegiate church of St. Euphemia on the island of Comacina, erected in 1031; convents and monasteries of almost all religious orders, later suppressed by the laws restricting Church freedom.V. CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Como had its first printing press in 1474, established by Ambrogio de Orchi; from the 16th century onward it produced historians, men of letters, theologians, orators, and scientists. In the mid-18th century Bishop Cernuschi founded the Innocenziana Academy, which paved the way for the Civic Museum of Archaeology (1873), the Voltian Temple, and the Historical, Political-Civil, and Ecclesiastical Society, with its Historical Journal and Historical Collection, as well as the Archaeological Society, which has published an Archaeological Journal of the Province and Ancient Diocese and its Territory since 1871. The Civic Library (17th cent.) is rich in codices, incunabula, and over 100,000 volumes, open to scholars; the seminary library is also important for its codices, etc. Bishop Macchi inaugurated the Innocenzian Museum in the episcopal residence and reorganized the diocesan archives, which contain a valuable collection of codices and authentic acts of the diocese. The notarial archive preserves registers from the 14th century and other records of ecclesiastical notaries.VI. MONUMENTS
Como preserves many Christian inscriptions dating up to the 11th century. Remains still exist of the ancient city walls from 1192, three of the old towers, and the square tower known as Porta Torre, which is at
Two entrances, according to Roman usage. In 1931, remains of the ancient episcopal palace dating to 1015 came to light. Well preserved is the basilica of S. Abbondio, consecrated by Urban II in 1095: the inner apse preserves paintings from the 14th century; likewise the basilica of S. Carpoforo with its square tower of 1040; the apse and dome of S. Giacomo from the Romanesque period; the church of S. Fedele and the Broletto in Gothic style from 1215; the splendid cathedral of S. Maria Assunta from the 14th century onwards represents the synthesis of C.’s artistic life from the fourteenth century to the present day. The diocese possesses sacred monuments of antiquity on the shores of Lake Como, at Isola Comacina; the baptisteries of Gravedona, Lento, and Chiavenna, the church of S. Maria di Dongo from 1110, the restored abbey of Piona, and similarly in the Valtellina ancient monuments.
V. Barelli, Notizie storiche sulle chiese di C
Monumenti comaschi, 1888; F. Niguarda, Comensis descriptio Ecclesiarum civit. Novocenensis a. 1592, in Raccolta storica di C., Como 1892-98; P. Toesca, La pittura e miniatura in Lombardia, Milan 1912, passim; P. Kehr, Italia Pontificia, VI, I, Berlin 1913, pp. 397-418; U. Monneret de Villard, Iscrizioni cristiane della provincia di C., anteriori al sec. XI, Como 1912; id., Isola Comacina, 1914; F. Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d'Italia dalle origini al 1300, La Lombardia, parte 2, I, C., Bergamo 1918, pp. 267-287; F. Ballarini, Compendio delle cronache della città di C., Como 1919; R. Majocchi, I vescovi di C., Milan 1920; M. Monti, Storia di C., Como 1920-32; G. Turazza, La successione dei vescovi di C. dal 379 al 1930, Como 1930; Cottineau, I, cols. 848-49; A. Silvagni, Monumenta epigraphica christiana saeculo XIII antiquiora quae in Italiae fabibus adhuc extant, II, Vatican City 1943 (v. index); Periodico della società storica di C., years 1878-1943; Rivista archeologica della città e antica diocesi di C., cited, Paolo Sevesi(1st. Enti)
Como – Façade of the Duomo (late 14th–15th c.).
