CREMA, DIOCESE OF. — In Lombardy, province of Cremona; prior to 1580 the territory of Crema was divided among three dioceses: Cremona, Lodi, and Piacenza.
The church of Crema traces its origins to the name of Gregory XIII, who, by his bull *Super universos* of 11 April 1579, at the request of the Republic of Venice, under whose sovereignty its territory then lay, erected the town into a diocese, assigning it as a suffragan see to the metropolitan see of Milan, but soon afterwards subjected it, by a subsequent bull of 20 October 1582, to Bologna; only a little over a century ago, precisely in 1835, Crema returned to the jurisdiction of Milan.
The spread of Christianity in the territory of Crema falls within the plan of evangelization of the regions of northern Italy; the earliest traces may be traced back to the 4th century, and with a high degree of probability the first evangelizers came from nearby Milan at the time of the episcopate of St Ambrose (374–397); notable influence was exercised in that same century and the next by Piacenza, during the episcopate of St Savinus (380–420), and Lodi under the episcopate of St Bassianus (381–409).
Archaeological discoveries, the antiquity and the name of the church attest that the cradle of Christianity in Crema territory was Palazzo Pignano, a locality not far from Crema, historically much older and more important than II.
Crema, certainly anterior to the 6th century, to which some have wished to assign its foundation by inserting it in the legendary enterprise of Count Cremetus, who in the second half of that century is said to have fortified it rather than founded it, owes its prestige to the period of the glorious Italian communes; today it has 25,000 inhabitants and is the most industrial center in the province of Cremona.
The episcopal succession of Crema is distinguished by notable names; it suffices to recall Dalmazio Minoretti, who governed it from 1915 to 1930, later archbishop of Genoa and cardinal.
The diocese of Crema, the smallest in Lombardy, comprises 59 parishes, with a population of 70,853. The clergy consists of 133 diocesan priests (1948). The seminary, recently built, accommodates 80 students. In the diocese various male religious institutes carry on their activity: the Capuchins and the Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Verona, and various congregations of sisters, which have 40 religious houses there.
In the Middle Ages flourishing religious communities with churches, convents, and hospitals thrived there.
Among the historical monuments should be noted the ancient parish church of Palazzo Pignano of the 10th century with relics of the earlier basilica dating before the 8th century.
The Cathedral, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed, a distinguished monument of art, is one of the finest examples of 14th-century Lombard architecture, the work of the masters of Como, begun in the last quarter of the 13th century and completed about the middle of the following century; of Gothic-Lombard style, it nevertheless preserves some parts, such as the portal of the more ancient cathedral of Romanesque style, destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa during the famous siege of 1159.
Famous is the sanctuary of St Mary of the Cross, just outside the city, a building with a centralized plan by the architect Giovanni Battaglio of Lodi, a pupil of Bramante, who began it in 1490, inspired by the church of the Grazie in Milan of the great master; it was then completed in 1500 by the Cremasque G. A. Montanaro; L. Beltrami and E. Gussalli in the restoration of 1903 completed it, according to the original design, with the minor domes.