Honoratus of Vercelli

Feastday: October 28
Birth: 330
Death: 415

Bishop of Vercelli, Italy, and a disciple of Sts. Eusebius and Ambrose. Born in Vercelli, Honoratus served St. Eusebius, who governed that see. When St. Eusebius went into exile in 355, Honoratus accompanied him to Scythopolis, Palestine. They traveled to Cappadocia , Egypt, and Illyricum, also Dalmatia. In 396, Honoratus was nominated as a bishop by St. Ambrose. Honoratus attended St. Ambrose on his deathbed.

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vercelli (in Latin, Archidioecesis Vercellensis) is a Latin rite Metropolitan see in northern Italy, one of the two archdioceses which form the ecclesiastical region of Piedmont.

The archbishop's seat is in Basilica Cattedrale di S. Eusebio, a minor basilica dedicated to its canonized first bishop, in Vercelli, Piemonte (Piedmont). The city also has two Minor basilicas: Basilica di S. Andrea and Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore

Ecclesiastical province

The suffragan dioceses under the Metropolitan of Vercelli are:

Roman Catholic Diocese of Alessandria (della Paglia)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Biella
Roman Catholic Diocese of Casale Monferrato
Roman Catholic Diocese of Novara.

History

300: Established as Diocese of Vercelli / Vercellen(sis) (Latin adjective)
Lost territories on 1474.04.18 to establish Diocese of Casale Monferrato and on 1772.06.01 to establish Diocese of Biella
Gained territory (back) on 1803.06.01 from the suppressed Diocese of Biella
Promoted on 1817.07.17 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vercelli / Vercellen(sis) (Latin), having lost territory to (re-)establish Diocese of Biella
Lost territory on 1874.08.01 to suffragan daughter Diocese of Casale Monferrato

According to an ancient lectionary the Gospel was first preached in Vercelli in the second half of the third century by Saints Sabinianus (Savinian) and Martialis, bishops from Gaul, when they were returning to their dioceses. The episcopal see was not established till after the Peace of Constantine. The first bishop was Saint Eusebius (354–370), a Sardinian lector of the Roman Church and a strenuous opponent of Arianism. From Vercelli the Gospel spread through the valley of the Po and its environs; towards the end of the fourth century, perhaps even during the episcopate of Saint Eusebius, new dioceses were erected. From Eusebius to Nottingo (830) there were forty bishops, whose images were preserved in the Eusebian basilica, predecessor of the present cathedral, so called because Saint Eusebius, who dedicated it to the martyr Saint Theonestus, was interred in it. He introduced the common and monastic life among his clergy, from whom bishops for the surrounding territory were often selected.

In 1817 the Diocese of Vercelli, then suffragan of the archbishopric of Turin (but previously of the archbishopric of Milan) was made an archdiocese, the first archbishop being Giuseppe di Grimaldi. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, Secretary of State (2006 onwards) served as archbishop of Vercelli (1991–1995).

It enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in May 1998.

Bishops and archbishops

Bishops of Vercelli

St. Eusebius of Vercelli (343 – 1 Aug 371 Died)
...
Saint Simenus (370–396), who baptized and consecrated Saint Ambrose
Saint Honoratus (396), who administered the Viaticum to Saint Ambrose
Saint Justinianus (living in 451)
Saint Æmilianus (about 500) built an aqueduct for the city at his own expense
Saint Flavianus (541), who decorated the apse of the original basilica
Saint Celsus (638–665)
Norgaudus (844), who restored common life among the canons
Liutuardus (880–899), who had been archchancellor of Charles the Fat (deposed later) and was slain during the invasion of the Hungarians (899), like
Regenbertus (904–924), even though only a bishop, Pope Anastasius III granted him the pallium for life
Atto II of Vercelli, (924–960), son of Aimone, Count of Vercelli, reformer of ecclesiastical discipline, and chancellor for Lothair II; he ordered schools to be set up in every parish of the diocese
Petrus I (978–997) a German attached to Otto II with whom he fought the Saracens in southern Italy; defeated and enslaved, he was sent to Egypt. He returned only to be killed by Arduino, the marquess of Ivrea who hoped to be King of Italy himself; he burnt the cathedral of Vercelli and scattered those buried there
Leo I (999–1024), another German prelate who became chancellor of Holy Roman Emperors Otto III and Henry II;

...

Anselmo Avogadro (1124–1127) the first bishop of Vercelli to also hold the title of count
Gisulfus II Avogadro (1132–1151) re-established common life among the canons in 1144
Uberto Crivelli (Dec 1182 – 9 May 1185), also Archbishop of Milan Uberto Crivelli (1182–1185) held both Vercelli and Milan at the same time, until elected Pope Urban III
Saint Albert Avogadro (1185–1204), a Canon Regular at Mortara, then elected bishop of Bobbio, but translated to Vercelli; made Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsfürst) in 1191; founder of the cathedral chair of theology, elected Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1204–1214); approved the Rule of the Carmelite Order
Ugo di Sessa (1214–1235)
Martino Avogadro de Quaregna (1243–1268)
Rainerio Avogadro (1305–1310) originally refused his election; he opposed the partisans of Fra Dolcino
Uberto Avogadro (1310–1326), sixth and last of a long line of Avogadro count-bishops of Vercelli

...

Jacques de' Cavalli (1 June 1379 – )
Ludovico Fieschi (29 March 1382 – 31 Oct 1406), next Administrator of Diocese of Carpentras)
Guglielmo Didier (1437), an elector of the Antipope Felix V
Giovanni Stefano Ferrero (16 July 1499 – 21 Jan 1502 Resigned), former Coadjutor Bishop (1493.04.24 – 1499.07.16); later created Cardinal *)
Giuliano della Rovere (24 Jan 1502 – 1 Nov 1503), Elected Pope Julius II (1503 * ).
Giovanni Stefano Ferrero (31 Oct 1503 – 5 Nov 1509), Administrator of Ivrea)
Bonifacio Ferrero (5 Nov 1509 – 17 Sep 1511), next Bishop of Ivrea)
Agostino Ferrero (17 Sep 1511 – 1536 Died)
Pier Francesco Ferrero (20 Dec 1536 – 2 March 1562 Resigned)
- Auxiliary Bishop: Melchiore Cribelli, O.P. (1540.02.20 – ?)
Cardinal Guido Luca Ferrero (2 March 1562 – 17 Oct 1572 Resigned), founder of the seminary, embellished the cathedral and introduced the Tridentine reform
Giovanni Francesco Bonomigni (17 Oct 1572 – 26 Feb 1587 Died), continued the reform and replaced (1573) the Eusebian Rite by the Roman rite
Costanzo de Sarnano (Torri), O.F.M. Conv. (6 April 1587 – 29 May 1589 Resigned)
Corrado Asinari (29 May 1589 – 1590 Died)
Marcantonio Visia (Vitia) (13 Aug 1590 – 1599 Resigned)
Juan Esteban Ferrero (Giovanni Stefano Ferrero), O. Cist. (29 March 1599 – 21 Sep 1610 Died)
Giacomo Goria (17 Aug 1611 – 3 Jan 1648 Died)
Girolamo della Rovere (5 May 1660 – 20 Jan 1662 Died)
Michael Angelus Broglia (30 Jul 1663 – May 1679 Died)
Victor Augustinus Ripa (27 Nov 1679 – 3 Nov 1691 Died)
Giovanni Giuseppe Maria Orsini, C.R.L. (24 March 1692 – August 1694 Died)
Giuseppe Antonio Bertodano (3 June 1697 – 4 May 1700 Died)
Gerolamo Francesco Malpasciuto (30 July 1727 – 9 August 1728 Died)
Carlo Vincenzo Maria Ferreri, O.P. (23 Dec 1729 – 9 Dec 1742 Died)
Gian Pietro Solaro (15 July 1743 – Jan 1768 Died)
Vittorio Maria Baldassare Gaetano Costa d'Arignano (11 Sep 1769 – 28 Sep 1778), Confirmed, Archbishop of Turin)
Carlo Giuseppe Filippa della Martiniana (12 July 1779 – 7 Dec 1802 Died)
Giovanni Battista Canaveri, C.O. (1 Feb 1805 – 11 Jan 1811 Died)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Vercelli

BIOS TO ELABORATE

Giuseppe Maria Pietro Grimaldi (1 Oct 1817 – 1 Jan 1830 Died)
Alessandro d’Angennes (24 Feb 1832 – 8 May 1869 Died)
Celestino Matteo Fissore (27 Oct 1871 – 5 April 1889 Died)
Lorenzo Carlo Pampirio, O.P. (24 May 1889 – 26 Dec 1904 Died)
Teodoro Valfrè di Bonzo (27 Mar 1905 – 13 Sep 1916 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Austria)
Giovanni Gamberoni (22 March 1917 – 17 Feb 1929 Died)
Giacomo Montanelli (17 Feb 1929 – 6 May 1944 Died), former Coadjutor Archbishop (1928.11.23 – 1929.02.17)
Francesco Imberti (10 Oct 1945 – 5 Sep 1966 Retired)
- Auxiliary Bishop: Giovanni Picco (1962.11.15 – 1967)
Albino Mensa (12 Oct 1966 – 4 June 1991 Retired)
Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, S.D.B. (4 June 1991 – 13 June 1995 Appointed, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
Enrico Masseroni (10 Feb 1996 – 27 Feb 2014 Retired)
Marco Arnolfo (27 Feb 2014 – ... )

Statistics

This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2019)

As per 2012, it pastorally served 174,200 Catholics (96.9% of 179,800 total) on 1,658 km² in 117 parishes with 103 priests (87 diocesan, 16 religious; i.e. a priest for every 1,691 Catholics), 13 deacons, 302 lay religious (20 brothers, 282 sisters) and 2 seminarians.