Osimo and Cingoli, Diocese of

OSIMO and CINGOLI, DIOCESE of - United dioceses, the first in the province of Ancona, the second in that of Macerata.

Osimo has an area of 150 sq km with a population of 44,515 inhabitants, all Catholics; it has 28 parishes served by 67 diocesan priests and 27 regulars; it has 5 male religious communities and 15 female.

Cingoli has an area of 105 sq km with a population of 13,000 inhabitants, all Catholics; it has 11 parishes served by 24 diocesan priests and 14 regulars; it has 2 male religious communities and 3 female. (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 304).

In the Acts of St. Antimus (BHL, 361) the Osiman martyrs Sisinnius the deacon, Diocletian and Florentius are commemorated; but, on the surer testimony of the Jeronymian Martyrology and of the later local cult, Florentius and Diocletian are held to be authentic martyrs of O. (L. Allevi, Origini cristiane delle Marche, in Atti e memorie di Deput. di St. patr., 5th series, 2-3 [1938], p. 257). The episcopal see is attested as vacant for a long time, diu pastorali sollicitudine destitutum, by a correspondence of Gregory the Great of 599 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1624-25) and is certainly earlier than this period. But nothing certain is known of the bishop St. Leopardus, whose legendary Vita (BHL, 4884) makes him a contemporary of Pope Innocent I (401-17); the fairly ancient cult (11th century) is attested by the Statutes of the city, compiled under bishop Pietro Ascolano (in 1371). At present Leopardus, Vitalian and Benvenutus are invoked as sanctissimi confessores (O. Sabbatini, Sul fondamento giuridico degli Statuti comunali. Un documento osimano del sec. XIV, in Studia Picena, 1 [1925], p. 74); Vitalian is commemorated in an epitaph walled into the crypt of the Cathedral (8th century) and the urn of St. Benvenutus bishop (1364-82) is preserved. The chronological list of the bishops of O., full of great gaps for the earliest period, appears complete and reliable after the 10th century. During the struggle against Nicolaism and investitures, the city was agitated by popular tumults against which intervened, with a letter addressed omnibus Auximianis clero et populo, Pope Leo

IX (cf. S. Prete, S. Pier Damiani, le chiese marchigiane, la riforma nel sec. XI, in Studia Picena, 19 [1949], pp. 123-24); to bishop Gislerius (1022-57), who was said to be guilty of horrible crimes, Damiani wrote exhorting him to repentance, and to him, returned to better counsel, he addressed one of his opuscules (Epist., 4, 4: PL 144, 299; Opusc. 16: PL 145, 366-80). In the 12th century the best-known bishop is Gentile (1177-1205), who carried out a pacifying work in the region, transferred the bodies of the martyrs Victor, Philip and Corona to O. and had work done in the Cathedral.

Under bishop Rainaldus, in 1240, the episcopal see was suppressed by Pope Gregory, because the city had given itself to Frederick II, and was subjected to Recanati: on 28 Feb. 1264 Urban IV restored it. Bishop Bernardino de Cupis (1547-74) took part in the Council of Trent and saw to the execution of its decrees in the diocese, continued by his successor Cornelio Fermani (1574-88) who convoked a synod and founded the convent of the Capuchins. Later the following distinguished themselves: Agostino Galamini O. P., master of the Sacred Palace and minister general of the Order, cardinal in 1611, transferred from the church of Recanati to this one of O. which he governed for 19 years (1620-39); he carried out various visitations and held three Synods (1624-27-30); card. A. Bichi, who called the Filippini fathers to O. and invited the well-known quietist p. Giacomo Lambardi to direct the nascent oratory (1672). Benedict XIII, restoring the diocese of C., united it aeque principaliter to O. Of the holders of the two united churches are to be remembered Pompeo Compagnoni (1740-74), author of erudite historical memoirs of the diocese and the region, and card. G. A. Benvenuti (1828-38), legate of the pontifical government in the disturbances of 1831.

The city of O., having offered itself to Pope Adrian I (Lib. Pont., I, p. 496), belonged from the 8th century to the Papal State, but the alternating fortunes of the later struggles between Church and Empire pushed O. toward the Ghibelline side; in the siege of Ancona of 1172 it lent aid to the imperial militias of Christian of Mainz and, because it had sided with Manfred, it was deprived of the episcopal see in 1240 until

1264. In the 14th century it submitted to an autonomous government of local lords (Guzzolini, Sinibaldi), managing to pacify itself only with card. Albornoz (1368). Having fallen under the lordship of Francesco Sforza (1433), it freed itself from it to return to the Holy See, to which it remained subject until the annexation of the Marches (1860).

Monasteries. - S. Pietro under the Roman church: it had vast possessions listed in an act of donation of Pope Benedict X (1058); S. Vittore de arcione, near the river Musone, of Benedictine origin, mentioned in many pontifical diplomas (11th-12th century) and later transferred in commendam; the papers of the destroyed foundation are in the municipal Archive; S. Maria in silvis, near Macerata, founded in 1042 iuris beati Petri, granted by Urban II to the abbey of S. Maria di Rambona and in 1153 passed to that of Chiaravalle di Fiastra. In the Osiman territory the Order of the Silvestrini (monks of S. Benedetto di M. Fano) had its cradle, founded by St. Silvestro Gozzolini (1177-1267) of O. at M. Fano in 1231.

Monuments. - Cathedral: notable elements are attributed to a pre-Romanesque construction of the 8th century approximately, from the time of Bishop Vitalian; but the current form of the entire building is of Romanesque structure. Pope Leo IX is said to have consecrated it in 1053 and dedicated it to St. Leopardus. The monument, in its current form, seems to be attributable to Bishop John (1295-1320). Characteristic is the entrance portico on the left side, with three arches and three portals; plastic decorative motifs are found in the apse and in the transept. The interior is Gothic with vaults and crossing of the 16th century. The crypt constitutes the most interesting part of the monument: formed of 3 transverse and 7 longitudinal small naves, it presents numerous examples of capitals and material of Roman origin. Bishop A. Ugolini Sinibaldi had the body of St. Leopardus, discovered in 1296 (incendio), entombed in an artistic altar in 1513, and into the crypt he also transferred the remains of St. Vitalian and of the martyrs of Osimo; the latter are preserved in a sarcophagus of the 4th century; hunting scenes on the front and Christian figurations in the upper part; adoration of the Magi, Noah in the ark, etc. (C. Costantini, Il duomo di O., in Rassegna marchigiana, 3 [1925], pp. 283-91; id., I restauri del duomo di O., ibid., 4 [1926], pp. 117-27). Annexed to the episcopium is the Baptistery where one admires a bronze baptismal font by Tarquinio and P. Iacometti of Recanati (1627). Basilica of St. Joseph of Copertino: the church and convent of St. Francis are certainly attested in 1247, and to this period belong some structures of the current temple, such as the apse, the tower, the right side. From 1657 St. Joseph of Copertino resided there, and he died there; having been canonized on 16 July 1767 by Clement XIII, he has had a cult in Osimo up to the present. The church, restored, was consecrated and dedicated to the new Saint on 27 May 1781 by Bishop Cardinal G. Calcagnini and declared a basilica by Pius VI on 20 Jan. 1796 (anon., Convento di S. Francesco e basilica di S. Giuseppe da Copertino, in Picenum Seraphicum, 2 [1916], pp. 186-213, 439-48). St. Nicholas: former church, Romanesque, with a fine portal with Gothic decoration (13th century); in a Gothic aedicule are preserved frescoes of the Bolognese school of the 14th century; eight doctors in the vault, on the walls the Crucifix and scenes from the life of the Virgin. In the territory of Osimo there is a Marian sanctuary at Campocavallo, a recent construction in neo-Lombard style begun in 1892 by Bishop E. Mauri and completed by Bishop P. Fiorani (1916-24). Treasure: in the Cathedral is preserved a silver repoussé plate (32 x 12 cm.) on which is depicted the bishop standing with pallium, nimbus and the inscription SCS Leopardus, of the 8th-9th century. In the Archive of the Curia are preserved documents later than the 13th century (1202); the municipal Archive, rich in documents of monastic provenance, was reorganized by A. Zonghi (Relazione sull'ordinamento dell'antico Archivio comunale della città di O., Fano 1883).

CINGOLI

The episcopal see of C. has an ancient origin. Bishop Julian of C., who followed Pope Vigilius to Constantinople at the Council of 553 (Mansi, IX, 353-59), is the first of whom the documents speak, while Theodosius and Esuperantius belong to an ancient age that cannot be determined because of the legendary character of the Vita s. Esuperantii (BHL, 2808). Having become extinct at an unknown period the episcopal see, C. was subjected to the diocese of Osimo and only in 1725 was it restored by Benedict XIII, who united it aeque principaliter to that of Osimo. It may be recalled that C. gave birth to F. Saverio Castiglioni, who became Pope Pius VIII (31 March 1829 - 30 Nov. 1830).

Monuments. - At C. there is a fine group of monumental churches of the Romanesque-Gothic period of the 14th century, among which are noted: S. Esuperanzio, with an artistic portal (1295); S. Domenico, where the Madonna del Rosario by L. Lotto (1539) is preserved; S. Giacomo; S. Filippo and S. Anastasia where there are valuable frescoes (15th-16th centuries).

Serafino Prete