MONTALTO, DIOCESES of. — City and diocese in the province of Ascoli Piceno. It has 32,351 inhabitants, almost all Catholic, distributed among 34 parishes served by 58 diocesan priests and 10 religious; it has one seminary, 2 male and 12 female religious communities (1949).
The diocese was erected by Sixtus V with the bull Super universas of 14 November 1586, through the partition of the dioceses of Fermo and Ascoli. The first bishop was P. Emilio Giovannini (24 November 1586–1605), and among his successors the following distinguished themselves: P. Orsini (1608–40), who convoked the First Synod; G. Cadebò, who established the Seminary in 1653 in the convent of S. Agostino; A. Paganelli (1673–1710), for the activity he carried out in synods and pastoral visitations; F. A. Marcucci of Ascoli (1770–98), who, having been appointed vice-secretary in Rome (1774–85), administered the diocese through vicars (A. Rossi-Brunori, La vita e le istituzioni di mons. Marcucci, Ascoli Piceno 1917) and accompanied Pope Pius VI on his journey to Vienna in 1782. Finally, F. Saverio Castiglioni of Cingoli (1800–16): created bishop of M. by Pius VII, he was exiled by the French occupying government in 1808 and transferred to Pavia, Mantua, and Milan; he returned to his diocese in 1814. Created a cardinal in the Consistory of 8 March 1816 and transferred to Cesena, his native city, he became pope under the name of Pius VIII (1829–30).
Since 1589 the diocese of M. has been suffragan to Fermo. The history of M., an ancient castle belonging to the Benedictines of Farfa, owes its greatest renown to Pope Sixtus V; the family of Piergentile Ricci (Peretto), father of the future pope, was from M.; although born in Grottammare, the Pope regarded M. as his land of origin, where he had made his religious profession in the convent of S. Francesco (1532). Sixtus V (1585–90), after erecting the diocese and declaring M. a city, exempted it from every tax, granted it a mint, conferred privileges and insignia upon the magistracy, as well as upon the cathedral Chapter, and presented precious objects and sacred furnishings to the cathedral church. At the Pope’s wish, the seat of an autonomous government (presidato) was established at M., withdrawn from the jurisdiction of Macerata, which comprised the lands of Ripatransone, M. Monaco, and M. Fortino. The disputes that arose between the bishops of M. and the commendatory abbots of Farfa, concerning the determination of their respective jurisdictions, were settled by an agreement negotiated by Bishop C. Cancellotti in 1664 and again in 1666, and ratified by Pope Alexander VII with the brief Ex debito of 21 June of the same year. The presidato continued until 1816.
MONUMENTS: Cathedral: the foundations of the large-scale temple were laid during the episcopate of P. Emilio Giovannini (1586–1605), and his successors continued the construction, which was completed under Bishop Eleonoro Aronne (1847–87); the portico was erected by Bishop L. Bonetti (1887–1911). The original design is by G. Rinaldi; the tower, dome, and portico are by the architect L. Paoletti; the recent paintings in the interior are by L. Fontana. S. Agostino, of medieval origin (approximately 13th century); in 1653, the Seminary was established in the adjoining convent, but the building is almost entirely demolished. Convent-church of S. Francesco delle Fratte, where Sixtus V took his vows as a Franciscan religious (1532).
Treasury: the cathedral church preserves a large reliquary (height 66 cm.) of silver and gold, with precious stones, donated by Sixtus V (28 July 1586) (F. Pistolesi, Altadunensia, Montalto 1920, pp. 17–21).