LUGANO, Diocese of. - Governed by an apostolic administrator with episcopal character. The evangelization of these lands situated between the St. Gotthard and the regions of Lake Maggiore, of L. and of Como, is due to various missionaries; the work is presumably divided into two periods: 1) the Milanese-Comasco period, which runs from the 4th century to the 6th century; 2) the Rhaetian-Merovingian period, which runs from the middle of the 6th century to the 8th century, through the work of the Irish monks who looked to St. Columban (d. 615) and St. Gall (d. 645).
Until September 1, 1884, the northern part of the current diocesan territory, with the parish of Capriasca and Brissago, belonged to the diocese of Milan (the belonging of the so-called Ambrosian valleys would go back to the donations of Attona, bishop of Vercelli, of 945-48, whose authenticity is very doubtful at least for the first ones; cf. F. Savio, Gli antichi vescovi d'Italia. Il Piemonte, Turin 1899, pp. 452-53; P. Fr. Kehr, Italia Pontificia, VI, II, Berlin 1914, p. 12), while the southern part, except for the parish of Capriasca and Brissago, was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Como.
The current diocese, nominally united to that of Basel, was established by Leo XIII with the bull Ad Universam of September 7, 1883 (Leonis XIII P. M. Acta, VIII, Rome 1889, pp. 301-25). The first apostolic administrator was Msgr. E. Lachat (d. November 1, 1886). It was, however, under his successor Msgr. V. Molo (d. March 15, 1904) that the Ticinese diocesan question was definitively settled with the Convention of March 16, 1888 between the Holy See and the Swiss Federal Council. The Convention does not speak explicitly of a diocese, but designates it with the phrase of erection of the church of St. Lawrence of L. as cathedral "canonically united and with equality of rights to the Church of Basel, whose Ordinary shall henceforth bear the title of bishop of Basel and of L." The term diocese was avoided out of regard for circles that until then had opposed the creation of an autonomous diocese for Ticino. The principal architects of this creation were, on the part of the Holy See, Msgr. D. Ferrata, future cardinal (d. 1914), and, on the part of the Ticinese government, the Hon. Martino Pedrazzini. The diocese depends directly on the Holy See, has its cathedral in Lugano with a Chapter, and its own seminaries. The bishop-administrator is freely chosen by the Holy See "in agreement with the diocesan bishop" from among the Ticinese clergy.
The diocese has two rites: the Roman, for the territory already subject to the bishop of Como, and the Ambrosian, for the parishes formerly under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Milan.
Among the Ticinese the following were distinguished for holiness, the blesseds: Manfredo Settala, priest and hermit (d. 1217); Pietro Berno of Ascona, Jesuit martyr (1583); Bl. Contardo Ferrini, layman and university professor (d. 1902); the venerable Francesca Vacchini of Ascona, virgin (d. 1609); and Niccolò Rusca of Bedano, first parish priest of Sessa and then archpriest of Sondrio, killed for the faith in 1618.
The diocese possesses various sanctuaries, among the most famous: the Madonna del Sasso above Locarno, a basilica (apparition of the B. V., Aug. 14, 1480). The Madonna dei Miracoli in Morbio Inferiore (approval July 29, 1594). The Madonna delle Grazie in the Cathedral, Lugano (crowned, Decr. Vat. July 10, 1939).
Ticino gave to Lombard art the Comacine masters and possesses notable monuments: the baptistery of Riva S. Vitale of the 5th century. The thousand-year-old cathedral of Lugano, Lombard Romanesque with additions through the centuries up to the 18th. Several Romanesque churches of which the principal are St. Victor in Muralto, St. Nicholas in Giornico, St. Peter in Biasca (11th-12th centuries), etc. The collegiate church of Bellinzona, of the Renaissance, rebuilt in the 16th century.