Parenzo, Diocese of
Parenzo is a small town and diocese on the western coast of Istria, formerly in the province of Pola. It was first a Roman municipality, then a colony under Tiberius ("Colonia Iulia Parentium"); a free commune around 1194, it submitted to Venice in 1267, being the first among Istrian cities; seat of the Istrian Diet from 1861 until its annexation to Italy.
The diocese of P., which still comprises the territory of the ancient Roman colonial ager and, in addition, the territory of Rovigno, has been a suffragan of Aquileia at least since 451; with the suppression of the Patriarchate (1715) it was subject to Venice, and in 1892, after other changes, it passed under Gorizia and was united with the diocese of Pola. At present (1952) it is governed by an apostolic administrator seated at Pisino. During the episcopate of Bishop Radosi (1942–47) the diocesan seminary had been established; at that time the diocese counted 4 vicariates, 25 parishes, 34 priests, and 8 religious institutes, most of which were dispersed by the Yugoslav occupation.
The first bishop may certainly be considered St. Mauro, the first also of whom there is record for Istria, probably a martyr at the end of the 3rd century, whose body was brought to the Lateran by John IV. Most celebrated was Bishop Eupraxius, of the mid-6th century, to whom is owed the construction of the cathedral, the baptistery, and the episcopal palace, still preserved; he was, moreover, among the most zealous in the schism of the "Three Chapters." Besides St. Mauro, Sts. Eleutherius, Julian, and Demetrius are venerated at P., though they are not local saints.
### Archaeology and Art
In the Roman street plan with intersecting roads, still intact near the northern curtain of the walls, stands the complex of Paleochristian buildings, which excavations begun in 1888 (Msgr. Deperis) and recent restorations (completed in 1937) have brought to light. They provide a most interesting example of the evolution from a private hall of worship to a tripartite basilica.
The oldest structure is a rectangular hall (8.70 m × 21.80 m), with a mosaic pavement of geometric designs and inscriptions, dating from the end of the 4th century, which includes to the east a square *museion* composed of a meander in three strands forming four smaller ones. This panel may belong to an environment of the Roman *domus* that was first the seat of gatherings: it may be attributed to the end of the 3rd century. In the hall, upon a floral vase that adorned its center, stood the portable altar; to the east was the seat of the cathedra and the presbyters (two fish were then enclosed in the *museion*). To the south of this hall another was built entirely similar (duplicated hall), when, as an inscription states, the body of Bishop Mauro was brought within the city walls, probably into a *martyrium* to be sought near the second hall. Over this *martyrium*, about the mid-5th century, a large rectangular tripartite basilica was built, the pre-Eupraxian one, with an internal presbyteral seat and cathedra, which encroached upon part of the duplicated hall. To the north of it, over the older *museia*, another smaller hall was erected, thought to be the catechumen-consignatory hall. Finally, on the same foundations as the pre-Eupraxian basilica, Bishop Eupraxius, in the eleventh year of his episcopate, built the great Eupraxian basilica, which still stands today.
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### Saint Peter Parenzo, Bishop and Martyr
Born at Troyes in France, Peter Parenzo was sent as a legate of Pope Innocent III to preach the crusade against the Albigensians in Umbria and to curb the audacity of the Cathar heretics. In the performance of his duty he was treacherously killed on the night of 20 May 1199. Contemporary sources speak of miracles at his tomb; no formal canonization took place, but only a local cult, confirmed by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 16 March 1879 for the diocese of Orvieto.