Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Turin

Archdiocese of Turin Archidioecesis Taurinensis Torino
Location
Country	Italy
Statistics
Area	3,350 km2 (1,290 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 2,143,843 2,065,443 (96.3%)
Parishes	359
Information
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Cattedrale Metropolitana di S. Giovanni Battista)
Secular priests	644
Current leadership
Bishop	Cesare Nosiglia
Auxiliary Bishop	Guido Fiandino

Turin cathedral in 1852

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Turin is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. Founded in the 4th century and elevated to the dignity of an archdiocese on 21 May 1515, by Pope Leo X. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. Since 2010 the Archbishop of Turin has been Cesare Nosiglia.

History

The first bishop of Turin whose name has survived was St Maximus. He can hardly be considered the first bishop of Turin, even though no other bishop is known before him. Maximus, many of whose homilies are extant, died between 408 and 423.^[1]

It was another Maximus who lived in 451 and 465. In 494 Victor of Turin went with St Epiphanius to France for the ransom of prisoners of war. St Ursicinus (569-609) suffered at the hands of the Franks. It was then that the Diocese of Moriana (Maurienne) was detached from that of Turin.^[1]

Other bishops were Rusticus (d. 691);^[1] Claudius of Turin (817-27), a copious and controversial writer, famous for his opposition to the veneration of images;^[2] Regimirus (of uncertain date, in the 9th century), who established a rule of common life among his canons; Amolone (880-98), who incurred the ill-will of the Turinese and was driven out by them; Gezone (1000), who founded the monastery of the holy martyrs Solutor, Adventor, and Candida; Landolfo (1037), who founded the Abbey of Cavour and repaired the damage inflicted on his Church by the Saracen incursions; Cuniberto (1046-81), to whom St Peter Damian wrote a letter exhorting him to repress the laxity of his clergy; Uguccione (1231-43), who abdicated the bishopric and became a Cistercian; Guido Canale enlarged the cathedral.^[1]

Under Gianfrancesco della Rovere (1510), the diocese of Turin was detached from the metropolitan obedience of Milan and became an archiepiscopal see with the diocese of Mondovì and Ivrea for suffragans, other sees being added later on. In the time of Cesare Cybo the diocese saw the rise of Calvinism, and his successors were also called upon to attempt to restore Roman Catholicism. Cardinal Girolamo della Rovere, in 1564, brought to Turin the Holy Shroud and the body of St Maurice, the martyr.^[1]

From 1713 to 1727, owing to difficulties with the Holy See, the See of Turin remained vacant. After 1848, Cardinal Luigi Fransoni (1832-62) became notable for his opposition to the Piedmontese Government's reform of the rights of the Church, and in consequence he went into in exile. His successors include Gaetano Alimonda (1883-91) and Agostino Richelmy (1897)^[1].

List of Archbishops of Turin since 1871

• Lorenzo Gastaldi (1871 - 1883)
• Gaetano Alimonda (9 Aug 1883 - 30 May 1891)
• Davide Riccardi (14 Dec 1891 - 20 May 1897)
• Agostino Richelmy (18 Sep 1897 - 10 Aug 1923)
• Giuseppe Gamba (20 Dec 1923 - 26 Dec 1929)
• Maurilio Fossati (11 Dec 1930 - 30 Mar 1965)
• Michele Pellegrino (18 Sep 1965 - 27 Jul 1977)
• Anastasio Ballestrero (1 Aug 1977 - 31 Jan 1989)
• Giovanni Saldarini (31 Jan 1989 - 19 Jun 1999)
• Severino Poletto (19 Jun 1999 - 11 Oct 2010)
• Cesare Nosiglia (11 Oct 2010 - )

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Herbermann 1913.
2. ^ Cross & Livingstone 1997, p. 359

References

• Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds (13 March 1997). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 359. ISBN 0-19-211655-X. 

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Turin". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.