Archdiocese of Sorrento

SORRENTO, ARCHDIOCESE of. — City and archdiocese in the province of Naples.

It has an area of 133 sq. km and a population of 72,320 inhabitants, all Catholics, distributed among 39 parishes, served by 141 diocesan priests and 75 religious priests; it has one seminary, 14 male and 43 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 406). Its sole suffragan diocese is Castellamare di Stabia. The Cathedral is dedicated to SS. Filippo and Giacomo; the patron of the archdiocese is St. Antonino abate, whose feast is celebrated on 14 February.

I. HISTORY

The date of the establishment of the diocese is very uncertain, but it is certainly of very ancient origin. A Christian inscription belongs to the year 527, and on 19 March various martyrologies attribute to S. (Acta SS. Martii, III, Paris 1865, p. 278) a group of martyrs subsequently considered to have been African.

A Vita di s. Antonino (BHL, 582), attributed to the ninth century, has handed down the names of the first four bishops, all saints venerated as protectors of the city: Renato on 6 October (Acta SS. Octobris, III, Paris 1868, p. 380), Atanasio on 26 January (ibid. Ianuarii, III, there 1863, p. 347), Baculo on the 29th (ibid., p. 565), and Valerio on the 16th (ibid. Ianuarii, II, there 1863, p. 393). Another Vita, written before the year 1000 (BHL, 7115-18), probably inspired by the French legend of Angers (seventh century) concerning s. Maurelio, instead places before s. Renato an anonimus, who has no reason to exist, even though he was accepted by the ancient writers of local history. The period of s. Renato’s episcopate nevertheless remains obscure: both Lanzoni (I, p. 247) and Kehr (Italia Pont., VIII, Berlin 1935, p. 407) favor the fifth century. The fifth in the series and the first historically documented is Rosario, who was among the signatories of the Council of Symmachus in 499; after him, no further information is available for a century. From 591 to 600 there is information about a Giovanni (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 1110; 1122; 1569; 1587; 1773), followed by an anonymous bishop (ibid., 1774), removed by Gregory the Great because he was unfit for his office. The same Pontiff ordered the subdeacon Antemio to investigate, together with the bishop Fortunato of Naples, the conduct of the priest Amando, who would be Giovanni’s true successor. After him, Giaquinto was present in 680 at the Roman Council of s. Agatone. At this point the Sorrento catalogue becomes fragmentary: the city’s vicissitudes, ravaged by Saracen raids, destroyed all memory of its prelates, and it is necessary to reach the ninth century to find the account of the arrival at S. of the celebrated s. Antonino, called from Montecassino to the convent of S. Agrippino, of which he was abbot until the year 830. At his death, the people elected him patron of the city.

At the end of the ninth century, Stefano, brother of s. Atanasio, bishop of Naples, is mentioned; both were leading figures in the struggle between the emperor Ludovico II and the duke of Naples, Sergio II, nephew of the two prelates and protector of the Muslims. Caught up in these painful events, Atanasio was first forced to take refuge at S. because he opposed his nephew’s policy (871), but a few years later (around 876) Stefano was compelled to go into perpetual exile, despite the intercession of many people and the unsuccessful intervention of John VIII with the prince Guaiferio (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3074). For the entire tenth century, there are only the names of two bishops named Sergio. It is debated whether they were truly two distinct persons or rather one individual—as most seem inclined to believe—namely, the Sergio transferred to Naples around 990 and subsequently made archbishop, or Sergio I mentioned in the Sorrento diptychs. The last known in the series of the bishops of S. was Maraldo, previously a cleric and vestiarian of Duke Guaimaro in 993-94, and then bishop in 1005.

It is impossible to determine when the Sorrento diocese was raised to metropolitan status. Among the hypotheses, the most probable seems to be that of Capasso (v. Memorie, cited in the bibliography, pp. 55-57), followed by Cortese (v. op. cit. in the bibliography, p. 25). If the name of a bishop is documented in 1005, while in 1059 there is a «Johannes archiepiscopus» who signed the Benevento Synod (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 561), and six Sorrento diptychs attribute the appointment to a Pope Giovanni, it is probable that this promotion should be placed between 1024 and 1032, that is, under Giovanni XIX. It should nevertheless be noted that in the Libro dei Confratri of Matteo da Salerno, written in the eleventh or twelfth century, Maraldo is considered the first archbishop of S. (Fonti per la storia d'Italia, LVI, 234). In any case, Giovanni is certainly the first historically known archbishop: it is also known that in 1071 he attended the consecration of the church of Montecassino carried out by Alessandro II (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 586). With archiepiscopal dignity, the diocese of S. had as suffragans the episcopal sees of Stabia, Vico Equense, and Massa Lubrense; at present, however, only the first remains under its jurisdiction.

After Giovanni, the Sorrento catalogue is almost complete. Alferio, formerly archdeacon of the Cathedral and consecrated by Celestine III (1191), is remembered for having obtained from Pope Innocent III the privilege of obedience from the suffragan bishops and from the diocesan abbots, clergy, and laity; later, however, he was suspended by the same Pontiff on the accusation of having supported Ottone IV and of simony. Pietro, transferred from Carinola in 1252 at the request of the Chapter, incurred excommunication together with his colleagues for having taken part in the coronation of Manfredi, the Swabian enemy of Alessandro IV; the condemnation was subsequently confirmed by Clement IV. Francesco Remolino (1501), a Spaniard, elected governor of Rome and later made a cardinal, transferred the archbishopric to his nephew Gilberto (or Giliberto), who was present at the Fifth Lateran Council of Giulio II (1512-17). His successor, Fr. Filippo Strozzi, of the noble Florentine family, was taken prisoner during the sack of Rome in 1527 and could scarcely secure his release except by paying a heavy ransom and through the intervention of Cardinal Colonna; but in 1530 he resigned in favor of Fiorenzo Coquerel of the diocese of Arras. Bartolomeo Albani, transferred from Sessa in 1552, died in Rome in the same year (1558) in which hordes of Saracens razed the already flourishing city to the ground. His successor Giulio Paveri (1558) attended the Council of Trent and was vicar general of Naples; Antonio da Pezzo (1642) held the Synod in 1654 and carried out various restorations in the city’s churches; Filippo Anastasio (1699), an eminent theologian, founder of the new Seminary and reorganizer of the diocese, was persecuted and driven out for 20 days, then recalled to his see and showered with honors by Clement XI, and by Benedetto XIII was appointed patriarch of Antioch.

Of the suffragan sees, in the reform of Pius VII (1818), only Castellamare di Stabia was left under S.; the others, deprived of episcopal dignity, were incorporated into the territory of the archdiocese.

II. MONUMENTI

Sotto l'Impero romano S. fu ricca di monumenti grandiosi; oltre ai templi di Afrodite, di Cerere e di Cibele, ebbe terme, circo, teatro, e perfino un Pantheon. Molto fu disperso nel medioevo, ma per S. il flagello più grave furono le flotte saracene, che scorrazzarono lungo il litorale.

Dei monumenti superstiti, la basilica di S. Antonino, sorta in luogo di un oratorio sul sepolcro del Santo, non conserva molto del suo stato primitivo, dopo il rifacimento barocco. Oltre al portale del fianco destro (sec. XI), l'interno ha colonne antiche rimodellate nei secoli scorsi, la cripta anch'essa rifatta nel 1700 e buoni dipinti di Giacomo Del Po (1678) e G. B. Lama (1734) con episodi della vita di s. Antonino e della storia sorrentina. Il Duomo, rifatto nel '400 e ancora recentemente, è a tre navate sorrette da pilastri. L'interno conserva buone opere del passato; un pastorale gotico, il trono arcivescovile e il pulpito marmoreo del 1573, un Presepio (tavola del sec. XV), una Madonna di Silv. Buono (1582), un bassorilievo del sec. XV ca. con il Redentore e gli Apo-

stoli nella prima cappella a destra e grandi dipinti nel soffitto della navata maggiore di Nic. e Or. Malinconico e Giac. del Po (1685) con la rappresentazione di 4 Martiri sorrentini e 4 Vescovi patroni. Il portale del campanile ha due coppie di antiche colonne e frammenti vari: altri notevoli avanzi dell'antica Cattedrale si conservano nel settecentesco Museo Correale, tra cui due plutei adorni di pegasi e ippogrifi affrontati con tronco e vite, sei formelle decorate con l'aquila sveva o uccelli, leoni e mostri, frammenti di ambone e transenne e materiale vario forse del sec. XIII. Delle altre chiese di S., notevoli quella di S. Francesco con il chiostro medievale dell'antico convento e l'altra di S. Baculo, ora della Vergine del Rosario, sorta sul posto del Pantheon romano.