Piazza Armerina (Enna), Diocese of

PIAZZA ARMERINA (ENNA), DIOCESE OF. - In Sicily, with jurisdiction over 13 municipalities. It has an area of 2003 sq km with a population of 236,000 inhabitants, of whom 235,500 are Catholics; it has 48 parishes and 5 sanctuaries, served by 136 diocesan priests and 40 regulars; it has 8 male religious communities and 35 female ones (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 318).

The origins of the diocese are recent. Considering the number of bishoprics insufficient for the growth of the populations, in 1805 Ferdinand IV, king of the Two Sicilies, asked Pius VII that a new bishopric be erected in P. A., detaching it from Catania. But only on 5 July 1817, with the bull Pervetustam locorum originem, did Pius VII erect the new diocese. In 1819, Msgr. Girolamo Aprile Benzo began the episcopate as its first bishop. Many were the ecclesiastics in the territory of the diocese who would deserve to be mentioned. Remembered are the natives of Piazza Armerina Cardinals Scipione Rebiba (1497-1572), one of the fathers of the Council of Trent, and Emanuele Calascibetta (1622-73); Prospero Intorcetta (v.) of the Society of Jesus, missionary in China; d. Luigi Sturzo. Of the illustrious men of Enna: St. Elias (860), monk of the Order of St. Basil; St. Luke, abbot of Carbone; the blessed Gerolamo de Angelis of the Society of Jesus, martyr in Japan (1713); the canon G. Alessi of the Athenaeum of Catania, tireless scholar (1774-1837).

RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS, SANCTUARIES, ABBEYS

Important and artistic religious monuments have been destroyed through age and various vicissitudes. There remain, at P. A., the Grand Priory of S. Andrea, a grange of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a building in Norman style (1106), built by Simon, count of Butera; the Hermitage known as that of Piazza vecchia on the Armerina plain, the place where the ancient city arose, destroyed by William the Bad; the church of S. Giovanni di Rodi, a commandery of the Knights of Jerusalem (1200); the grand Cathedral (1627), which preserves the sacred Byzantine image of Maria Santissima delle Vittorie and treasures of sacred art (Gagini, Ruzzolone, Caravaggio, Ligozzi, Reni, Paladino, etc.). Of Enna, mention is made of the church of S. Francesco with its fourteenth-century bell tower; the Duomo adorned with a rich treasure and with distinguished works of art. Of Gela, the very ancient city founded in 688 B.C., mention is made of the church of S. Giacomo with a fine Gothic portal, and the fine mother church with a facade made from the Doric columns of the temple of Apollo. Notable are the sanctuaries: of S. Filippo Apostolo of Aidone, founded by Adelasia, granddaughter of Roger the Norman; of S. Rocco at Butera; of S. Maria del Bosco of Niscemi and of Maria S.ma del Mazzaro at Mazzarino.

Romano Vito