FAENZA, DIOCESE OF. — In the province of Ravenna; it is a suffragan of Bologna; the cathedral is dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle. The diocese covers an area of 700 km² and has 125,000 inhabitants, of whom 23,250 live in the city, 47,600 in the municipality, and about 80,000 in the other 10 municipalities. It comprises 14 urban parishes and 103 rural parishes, divided into 23 vicariates. There are 247 priests, 536 religious men and women, distributed across 7 monasteries and 9 convents, which also serve 14 colleges or educational institutions.
A center of communication between Tuscany and the Ravenna area, Faenza owes its development primarily to this role since antiquity (it is first mentioned in historical sources as an ally of Rome in the Second Punic War, 216 BC). There is no direct evidence of pre-Constantinian Christianity in Faenza (the martyrs Emiliana and Savinus are legendary), but by the Roman Synod of 313, a bishop named Constantius is already present in Ravenna (Optatus of Milevis, *CSEL*, 26, 26), suggesting that Christianity had long been numerous and organized there. No other diocese in Emilia has such early secure dates. A bishop, also named Constantius, is addressed about 60 years after St. Ambrose (PL 16, 879) as the bishop closest to Imola, entrusted with the temporary care of that church. It is likely that this refers to the bishop of Faenza, the nearest city to Imola; the objections raised by Lanzoni (p. 770) are based on a singular geographical misunderstanding by the distinguished scholar.
The ancient cathedral corresponded to the present-day *S. Maria Vecchia* (which still preserves important wall remains from the 6th century) and was a three-aisled basilica used as a cemetery church, located outside and to the west of the city. During the Lombard wars (AD 740), this church passed to the monks, taking the name *S. Maria foris portam*, and the *Plebs S. Petri* in the city center became the cathedral; this was also a three-aisled basilica, oriented with its façade to the east. After various fires and destructions, it was rebuilt by Bishop Federico Manfredi (1474).
The 6th–11th centuries saw the development of parishes (*pievi*) and monasteries in the diocese. A bull of Pope Celestine II (Kehr, *Italia Pontificia*, V, Berlin 1911, p. 148) states that in 1243 the diocese of Faenza included 22 parishes and 6 monasteries, extending from the Apennine ridge to the gates of Ravenna, with significant development also downstream of Imola and upstream of Forlì. Among the oldest parishes are *S. Pietro in Silvia* and *S. Giovanni in Ottavo*; among the notable monasteries are *S. Maria foris portam* (where St. Peter Damian died in 1072 and is now buried in the cathedral) and *S. Benedetto in Alpe* (for which St. Romuald obtained a diploma from Henry III in 1021). From the 11th century onward, chapels or parishes began to appear around the *pievi*; by 1200, there were already 27 in the city alone, and the *Ratio Decimarum* of 1301 (Sindi and Terti, 60 [Vatican City 1949], pp. 199–221) lists 237 parishes and 12 monasteries for the entire diocese.
Even during the period of Guelph and Ghibelline conflicts (until the rise of the Manfredi lordship in 1313), religious life in Faenza flourished, largely due to the growth of the mendicant orders. The first Dominican convent was established in 1223, and the Clarisses in 1224 (St. Francis was still alive). Notable figures from this period include the blessed Novellone (d. 1283), St. Humility (d. 1310; she founded her monastery of Vallombrosan nuns in 1266), and the blessed Filippo Giacomo Bertoni (d. 1483). However, in the 16th century, the city was infected by the doctrines of the reformers and gained a reputation throughout Italy as a Lutheran city, notably through the infamous trials of the baker Fanino Fanini, executed in 1552. Nevertheless, Faenza produced distinguished figures of culture, piety, and charity who contributed to its salvation. Among the most renowned were Fra Saba da Castiglione, knight of the Holy Sepulchre and commander of the Magione (d. 1554); Bishop Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, a leading figure in the pre-Tridentine reform (1528–44); and his successor, G. B. Sighicelli, who participated in the final sessions of the Council of Trent, issued the decree founding the seminary (1569), and directed the entire Tridentine Counter-Reformation in the diocese.
Other notable bishops of Faenza include Cardinal Carlo Rossetti (1645–81), Cardinal Antonio Pignatelli (1682–86, later Pope Innocent XII), Marcello Durando (1679–1716), and Antonio Cantoni (1742–67). This period saw significant development in cultural institutions, assistance for the poor, orphanages, schools, hospitals, religious confraternities, and especially the seminary, inaugurated in 1576. Over the last two centuries, it has become one of the principal centers of Romagnol Neoclassicism (Vincenzo Monti was a student there from 1766–71), and a new monumental building is now under construction, designed by architect Dante Fornoni. Other distinguished figures in the Catholic life of Faenza in the modern period include Bishop Gioacchino Cantagalli (1884–1912), the historian Francesco Lanzoni (d. 1929), the jurist Cardinal Michele Lega (d. 1936), the moralist Emilio Berardi (d. 1916), the seminary spiritual director Paolo Taroni (d. 1912), and Count Carlo Zucchini, president of the *Opera dei Congressi* (d. 1928).
The sacred monuments of Faenza suffered severe damage during the war of 1940–45: 50% of the churches were completely destroyed, 20% were seriously damaged, and nearly all the bell towers disappeared. Fortunately, some of the most precious monuments survived with only minor damage, including the cathedral, designed by Giuliano da Maiano (1474; the interior was completed by Lapo Portigiani the Younger in the early decades of the 16th century and consecrated in 1581). Notable features include the tomb of St. Savinus by Benedetto da Maiano (1442–97), the altar of St. Terentius by Agostino di Duccio (1418–98), and paintings by Ferrari Fenzoni (d. 1643). Other surviving monuments include the *Chiesa della Commedia* (15th century), with frescoes by Girolamo Trevisani (d. 1544) and another fresco on the tomb of Fra Saba da Castiglione by Minzocchi (d. 1564); *S. Ippolito*, by Gioacchino Tomba (1771); *S. Maria dell’Angelo* (1621), designed by the Roman architect Girolamo Rainaldi; *S. Domenico* (1759), with a precious wooden choir by Paganelli; *S. Bartolomeo* (15th century); and 16th-century ceramics and paintings now housed in the municipal art gallery and the Museum of Ceramics.
**RUBRIC:** The bibliography is extensive, with nearly every parish having its own. Of more general interest:
G. B. Mittarelli, *Ad Scriptores Rerum Italicarum cl. Muratori*;
*Accessiones historicae Parentumae*, Venice 1771 (a collection of chronicles and family documents, republished in *RIS*, 28);
F. Lanzoni, *I primordi della Chiesa faentina*, Faenza 1906;
P. Fr. Kehr, *Italia Pontificia*, V, Berlin 1911, pp. 146–160;
A. Mercati, E. Naselli-Rocca, P. Sella, *Rationes decimarum Italiae nei secoli XIII e XIV. Aemilia*, Vatican City 1933, pp. 197–221;
F. Lanzoni, *Cronotassi dei vescovi di Faenza dai primordi a tutto il sec. XIII*, Faenza 1913;
id., *La Controriforma nella città e diocesi di Faenza*, 1913;
id., *La fondazione e l’apertura del Seminario di Faenza*, 1913;
id., *Cortimani*, I, 1908–1909.