Pinerolo, Diocese of

PINEROLO, DIOCESI di [DIOCESE of]. - City and diocese of Piedmont, suffragan of the archdiocese of Turin.

The diocese extends over an area of 100 sq km, with a population of 79,850 inhabitants, of whom 63,150 are Catholics; about 16,700 are "Evangelicals," for the most part Waldensians; it has 62 parishes, of which 25 are of mixed religion, served by 164 diocesan priests; there are furthermore 4 male religious communities and 40 female ones.

Pinerolo is named in a diploma of Otto III (995?) which gave possession of it to Amizzone, archbishop of Turin. At the beginning of the 11th century the domain passed to Marquis Olderico Manfredi. He was succeeded by his daughter Adelaide, foundress of the Benedictine monastery of S. Maria in Abbadia Alpina (1664), whose abbots exercised over Pinerolo for a long time a jurisdiction that was also temporal. Then the city was ruled by the Savoys, beginning with Count Thomas (1220). From 1295 to 1418 Pinerolo became the capital of the Savoy-Achaia principality. In 1466 Pius II, as compensation for the renunciation of the pontificate made by Amadeus VIII (Felix V), granted to the dukes of Savoy the appointment of the consistorial benefices in Pinerolo. The city suffered French domination three times: from 1536 to 1574, from 1630 to 1696 and from 1798 to 1814. During the French domination, between

(phot. Gatti)

PINEROLO, DIOCESE OF - Episcopal seminary - Pinerolo.

1668 and 1678, a mysterious personage, the "Iron Mask," was confined in the citadel; and from 1809 to 1813 Cardinal Pacca was held prisoner in the fortress of Fenestrelle.

The diocese was instituted at the request of Charles Emmanuel III with the brief In sacrosancta 6. Petri of Benedict XIV of 23 Dec. 1748 (cf. Bullarium Benedicti XIV, II, Prato 1846, pp. 468-87). The mensa was constituted in part from the goods of the above-mentioned abbey of S. Maria. In 1802 the French government suppressed all the religious Orders of the city and in 1804 the diocese was united with that of Saluzzo; it was restored by Pius VII with the brief B. Petri Apostolorum of 17 July 1817 (Bullarii Romani continuatio, edited by R. Segreti, XIV, Rome 1849, pp. 344-58).

In the diocese of Pinerolo resides the most compact group of Waldensians (v.). Their first appearance in the valleys of Pinerolo dates back to the beginning of the 13th century.

Among the most distinguished bishops of Pinerolo are remembered: P. Giuseppe Rey (1824-32), who offered Lanteri (v.) the possibility of erecting the Congregation of the Oblates of M. V. (v.) and called the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry, foundresses in the city of the first popular schools; Andrea Charvaz (1834-52), apologist and fighter for the freedom of the Church, author of the Guida del catecumeno valdese, ossia difesa dei cattolici contro gli errori dei protestanti (Paris 1840), promoter of the foundation of the Maurist priory of Torre Pellice with annexed Catholic schools (1844); G. B. Rossi (1895-1922), preacher and author of catechetical works, to whom are due the last restorations of the Cathedral and of the sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, the construction of the episcopal Seminary (1899) and of the new parish church in Luserna S. Giovanni (1912).

MONUMENTS

The church of St. Maurice with its pointed Gothic-style bell tower, rebuilt in 1481 and restored several times, which dominates the city; the Palazzo di Acaia, built by Philip of Acaia in 1318, in a deplorable state; the luminous Cathedral, which arose, it seems, around the year 1000, rebuilt and consecrated in 1508, restored in 1885, in the late Piedmontese Gothic style, rich in frescoes by Vacca, Rollini, Reflo and in original stained-glass windows of great value; the bell tower of St. Dominic, attached to the ancient church of the same name, of which the most elegant apse remains (1438); the beautiful Baroque church attached to the monastery of the Visitation (17th century).

P. is one of the first cities in Italy where the art of printing was cultivated (De Rubeis, 1479). It was the seat of a famous school of horsemanship. Now commerce and industry flourish in it. It has middle schools and vocational training schools; a ginnasio-liceo; a state technical and teacher-training institute; and furthermore parified female middle and teacher-training schools, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of P., and the Murialdo vocational institute of the Giuseppini fathers. It has many charitable institutions: hospitals, orphanages, the first branch of the "Cottolengo" of Turin; the Ospizio cronici, founded by provost Michele Cerutti in 1928. It has a rich civic Library named after its founder Camillo Alliaudi (1805-67).

In one of its spacious squares stands the monument to Gen. Filippo Brignone (1812-77). Other illustrious figures are: Gianfrancesco Porporato, jurist and politician (1484-1544); Michele Buniva, physician, introducer of the vaccine in Piedmont (1762-1834); Ignazio Porro, scientist (1795-1875); can. Pietro Caffaro, historian (1852-1914); Luigi Facta, politician (1861-1930). P. is also the birthplace of the b. Margherita of Savoy (1391-1464).

Main centers: Villar Perosa, Fenestrelle, Sestrières, Torre Pellice. - See plate C.

Giulio Bonatto