The Diocese of Porto–Santa Rufina is a Latinsuburbicarian diocese of the Diocese of Rome and a diocese of the Catholic ChurchinItaly. It was formed from the union of two dioceses. The diocese of Santa Rufina was also formerly known as Silva Candida.
From 1967, the diocese has had both a titular cardinal bishop, and a resident bishop who handles the diocesan business.
Porto was in ancient times Portus, the chief harbour of Rome. It owes its origin to the port built by Claudius on the right of the Tiber, opposite Ostia. Trajan enlarged the basin, and in a short time there grew around it a city which eventually became independent of Ostia. Porto became a separate city in the 4th century.[1] Between 337 and 341, a statue was erected by the ordo et populus civitatis Flaviae Constantinianae Portuensis.[2]
It was near Porto that Julius Nepos compelled Emperor Glycerius to abdicate (474). During the Gothic War the town served the Goths (537 and 549) and the Byzantines (546–552) as a base of operations against Rome. In the 9th and 10th centuries it was sacked on several occasions by the Saracens. In 849 Pope Leo IV fortified it and established there a colony of Corsicans for the defence of the coast and the neighbouring territory, but the city continued to decay.
In 314 Gregorius was bishop. The great xenodochium, or hospice, of Pammachius was built about 398.[5]
In 682, it is recorded that Pope Leo II was consecrated by the bishops of Ostia, Porto and Velletri (the See of Albano being vacant).[6] The bishop of Porto was one of the seven (then six, when Porto was combined with Santa Rufina) episcopi hebdomadarii, who presided at the high altar of the Lateran Basilica in rotation during the weekdays; the system is first mentioned at the time of Pope Stephen III (768–772), though it was certainly much older.[7]
On 1 August 1018, Pope Benedict VIII confirmed for Bishop Benedictus all the possessions of the church of Porto, which were named in detail and included not only the entire city of Porto, but also the Isola Lycaonia and the island with the church of S. Bartholomew, and the Transtiberine region of Rome; the grant included the complete rights over people's estates who died in his jurisdiction without an heir, or intestate, or involved in a legal situation.[8]
The Diocese of Cære, now Cerveteri, has been united with that of Porto since the 12th century.[9]Cære was an ancient city, called at first Agylla, where the sanctuaries of Rome and the Vestals were hidden during the invasion of the Gauls; the Etruscan tombs scattered about its territory are important archeologically. Cervetri had bishops of its own until the 11th century.[10] The earliest known was Adeodatus, who participated in the first Roman synod of Pope Symmachus in 499.[11] Bishop Petrus attended Pope Paul I's synod of 761; Bishop Romanus was present at Pope Eugeniius II's synod of 826; other known bishops were Adrianus (853), Crescentius (869), Annisus (995), and Stephanus (1000). The last known was Benedictus, who is recorded in 1015 and 1029.[12]
Santa Rufina grew up around the basilica of the Holy Martyrs Sts. Rufina and Secunda on the Via Aurelia, fourteen miles (21 km) from Rome; the basilica is said to have been begun by Pope Julius I, and was finished by Saint Damasus. In the 9th century this town was destroyed by the Saracens, and the efforts of Pope Leo IV and Pope Sergius III were unable to save it from total ruin: all that remains are the remnants of the ancient basilica and a chapel.
The residence of the bishops of Silva Candida was on the Insula Tiberina beside the church of Sts. Adalbert and Paulinus, while that of the bishops of Porto was on the same island near the church of San Giovanni. The bishops of Silva Candida, moreover, enjoyed great prerogatives in relation with the ceremonies of the basilica of St. Peter.[13] In November 1037, Bishop Petrus and all his successors were granted the office of Bibliothecarius (Librarian) of the Holy Roman Church.[14]
The first notice of it as an episcopal see dates from the 5th century:
During the schism of antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna), there was a schismatic bishop Adalbert (1084–1102), who became antipope Adalbert (1102). He was captured, brought before Pope Paschal II, and sent to the monastery of S. Lorenzo in Aversa.[15]
Pope Callistus II (1119–1124) united to the See of Porto the other suburbicarian See of Silva Candida or Santa Rufina. The act was confirmed by Pope Adrian IV, and by Pope Gregory IX.[16] The change is dated to 1119 by Giuseppe Cappelletti.[17]
Historically, the Bishop of Porto became the second cardinal in terms of prestige, the Bishop of Ostia being the first, and officiated on Mondays in the Lateran Basilica; he obtained, moreover, the other rights of the Bishop of Santa Rufina, but lost jurisdiction over the Leonine City and its environs, when they were united to the city of Rome.
In 1826, Civitavecchia was separated from the Diocese of Viterbo and Toscanella and united with that of Porto, by Pope Leo XII.[18] In 1854, it was made an independent see, but sharing a bishop with Corneto (Tarquinia) as the bishop of Tarquinia e Civitavecchia.[19] In 1986, the two dioceses were united, becoming the Dioecesis Centumcellarum-Tarquiniensis, with its seat at Civitavecchia.[20] The Cardinal Bishop of Porto Luigi Lambruschini (1847) restored the cathedral and the episcopal palace.[21]
From the 16th century, the incumbency of prelates of the see of Porto was, as a rule, of short duration, because most of the cardinal bishops opted for the See of Ostia and Velletri when it became vacant. It was necessary, however, to be present at the consistory in which vacancies were being filled and cardinals could opt for Ostia in order of seniority. On 10 March 1961, in the apostolic letter Ad suburbicarias dioeceses, Pope John XXIII abolished the right of cardinal bishops to opt for other suburbicarian sees, reserving the right of appointment to the pope.[22]
By the beginning of the 20th century, it had become apparent that the suburbicarian bishops had become overburdened with the responsibilities of their curial and diocesan duties.[23] The increase in commerce, in roads and travel, and migration to the city,[24] as well as the increased burden of duties in the papal administration because of the number and complexity of problems affecting the Church,[25] made some sort of relief necessary. Pope Pius X issued a decree, Apostolicae Romanorum Pontificium, granting the bishops of Ostia, Porto, Albano. Palestrina, and Frascati each a suffragan bishop to carry the burden of their pastoral duties in their dioceses. The pope appointed the suffragans, who had full powers inside the diocese, subject to the cardinal's approval, but not the power to ordain or consecrate, or the right to have a throne or display their coat-of-arms.[26] Further details were added by Pope John XXIII in his apostolic letter, Suburbicariis sedibus, defining the suffragan bishop as "Episcopus Ordinarius", with the same powers as other residential bishops, and enumerating the privileges of the cardinal bishop.[27]
In 1914, Pope Pius X took steps to restrain the irregularities in the incomes of the six cardinal suburbicarian bishops. After consulting with the curial cardinals and with their agreement, he issued the decree Edita a Nobis, which ordered that in the future the incomes of the cardinal bishops should be placed in a single fund, administered by the Office of Economic Affairs, to which each cardinal must render an annual account. Each year, after 6,000 Lire was to be given to each suffragan bishop, the remaining money collected was to be divided into equal portions, the bishop of Ostia to receive two portions, and each of the other bishops one portion. The decree also ordered that the bishop of Ostia, when promoted to that position, should also retain his previous bishopric; the diocese of Velitrae was to be removed from his jurisdiction, and from that point the suburbicarin bishops would be: Ostiensis, Portuensis et Sanctae Rufinae, Albanensis, Praenestina, Sabinensis, Tusculana, Veliterna.[28]
^Duchesne, "Le sede episcopali...", p. 479. L. Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis Tome I (Paris: Thorin 1886), p. 360.
^Duchesne (1886), Le Liber Pontificalis, pp. 478, 484. Duchesne (1892), "Le sede episcopali p. 478.
^Kehr II, p. 20, no. 10. G. Moroni, "Porto (Portuense)," in: Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. LIV (Vwenezia: Tipografia Emiliana 1852), p. 212, col. 1.
^Kehr II, p. 22. Cappelletti. Le chiese d'Italia I, pp. 547-549.
^Lanzoni, pp. 510-516, especially 516. Louis Duchesne, "Le sede episcopali nell' antico ducato di Roma," Archivio della Società Romana di storia antica XV (1892), p. 485.
^J.D. Mansi (ed), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus VIII (Florence: A. Zatta 1762), pp. 233-234. Cappelletti I, p. 548. This presumes that he was not the Adeodatus who signed himself Bishop of Silva-Candida in the third synod of Pope Symmachus (501).
^Acta Apostolicae SedisAn. et Vol. LXXIX(in Latin) (Città del Vaticano: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1987), pp. 682-685.
^G. Moroni, "Porto (Portuense)," in: Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. LIV (Vwenezia: Tipografia Emiliana 1852), p. 204. Umberto Benigni (1910), "Luigi Lambruschini." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Retrieved: 11 December 2021.
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 53 (Città del Vaticano 1961), p. 198.
^Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli, in 1910, was not only Bishop of Porto, but Penitentiary Major, Prefect of the Congregation on Indulgences and Relics, Prefect of the Congregation of Ceremonies, and Pro-Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regular Clergy, with membership on eight other congregations. Annuario Pontificio, (Roma 1910).
^"hodie, multiplicatis commerciis, expeditioribus itineribus, auctoque proinde numero confluentium hominum, in quotidianum vocantur Fidei morumque discrimen."
^"Cardinalibus in Urbe negotia adeo sunt multiplicata, ut eorum paene mole obruantur, praesertim ob tot tantasque quibus Ecclesia nunc premitur necessitates... ingravescente praesertim aetate, tempus et vires interdum non sufficiant."
^The bishops of Sabina and Velletri already had suffragan bishops. Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Citta del Vaticano 1910), pp. 277-281.
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 54 (Citta del Vaticano 1962), pp. 253-256.
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis 6 (Citta del Vaticano 1914), pp. 219-220.
^Gregorius attended the Council of Arles in 314. C. Munier, Concilia Galliae, A. 314 – A. 506 (Turnholt: Brepols 1963), p. 15 line 82: "Gregorius episcopus quo loco qui est in Portu Romae". Gams, p. VIII, col. 1. Lanzoni, p. 116.
^Donatus is known only from the dedicatory inscription of a basilica of St. Eutropius, Bonosa, and Zosima: Kehr II, p. 17. Cappelletti I, p. 496. Lanzoni, p. 113 (ascribes the inscription to the 4th or 5th century).
^Romanus was a bishop of Albano. There is no evidence for a Romanus of Porto. Lanzoni, p. 116.
^Cappelletti I, p. 497, and Gams, p. VIII, col. 1, report that Bishop Damasus of Porto received a letter from Eusebius, announcing the death of Saint Jerome. The letter, however, is a forgery, and there is no "Damasus". Lanzoni, p. 116.
^Gregorius' name is found in a forged bull of Pope Gregory I. He did not exist. Lanzoni, p. 117.
^Felix received a letter from Pope Gregory I in January 599. Kehr II, p. 18, no. 1.
^Bishop Joannes signed the synodal letter of the Roman synod of 680, sent by Pope Agatho to the Third Council of Constantinople, which was read in the third plenary session. J.-D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XI (Florence: A. Zatta 1764), p. 773. He was legate to the Sixth General Council in Constantinople. Cappelletti, p. 499.
^Georgius (or Gregorius) accompanied Pope Constantine to Constantinople (710). Cappelletti I, p. 499. L. Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis Tome I (Paris: Thorin 1886), p. 389: "Hisdem temporibus misit suprafatus imperator [Justinianus] ad Constantinum pontificem sacram per quam iussit eum ad regiam ascendere urbem. Qui sanctissimus vir iussis imperatoris obtemperans ilico navigia fecit parari, quatenus iter adgrederetur marinum. Et egressus a porto Romano die V mens. octob., indictione VIIII 4’, secuti sunt eum Nicetas episcopus de Silva Candida, Georgius episcopus Portuensis...."
^Bishop Citonatus (Citomalo, Citonomato) took part in the consecration of the antipope Constantine. Cappelletti I, p. 499. Jaffé, p. 283. Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis Tome I (Paris: Thorin 1886), p. 469. He was present at the Lateran synod of Pope Stephen III in April 769: Duchesne, pp. 474-475.
^Bishop Stephanus attended the Roman synod of Pope Eugenius II on 15 November 826. J.D. Mansi (ed), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIV (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), p. 999. Cappelletti I, p. 499. Jaffé, p. 321.
^Bishop Rhadoaldus acted contrary to his instructions on the occasion of the difficulties with Photius at the Council of Constantinople (861). In 862, he was papal legate in Gaul. In 864, he was deposed by Pope Nicholas I for having prevaricated in connection with the divorce of Lothair II of Lorraine. Kehr II, p. 18, no. 2. 3. Cappelletti I, p. 501.
^J.N.D. Kelly and M.J. Walsh (2010), Oxford Dictionary of Popes second edition (Oxford: OUP), pp. 113-114.
^Source for the period 1029-1130: Hüls, Kardinäle, Klerus und Kirchen Roms: 1049-1130, p. 117-124.
^F. Ughelli, Italia Sacra, I (second ed., by N. Coleti) (Venice 1715), pp. 115-120.
^Hüls, pp. 117-118. He participated in the Roman council of Pope Clement II on 9–15 April 1046. J.D. Mansi (ed), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XIX (Venice: A. Zatta 1769), p. 626.
^Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Biographical Dictionary, "Creation of 1046" (retrieved: 8 December 2021), offering no evidence. Hüls, p.120, ignores "Gregory" completely.
^Hüls believes that this is the same Giovanni as was bishop in the 1030s and 1040s. On 9 April 1049, he was present at the Roman synod of Pope Leo IX: Kehr II, p. 20 no. 12. On 2 May 1050, he was present at the Roman synod of Pope Leo IX.
^Rolandus: Hüls, p. 118, no. 2: "Vor 1050 ist Johannes (I), nach 1057 Johannes (II) bekannt".
^Joannes joined the obedience of antipope Clement III in 1084. Pope Urban II called him antiepiscopus in a letter of 8 July 1089. Hüls, pp. 118-120.
^Bishop Mauritius was sent by Pope Paschal II to establish order in religious affairs and introduce the Latin Church hierarchy in the territory in the Holy Land recently conquered by the First Crusade. Cappelletti I, p. 507. Gams, p. VIII, col. 2.
^Bishop Adeodatus was present at the councils held by Pope Symmachus. At the first synod, two bishops named Adeodatus participated: Adeodatus of Caere, and Adeodatus of Formiae. At the third synod, Adeodatus of Silva Candida subscribed, as well as Adeodatus of Formiae. At the fourth synod, three bishops named Adeodatus attended, but none signs the decrees.
^Valentine was Vicar of Rome during the absence of Pope Vigilius; he had his hands cut off by the Ostrogothic king Totila (541–552).
^Bishop Peter of Santa Rufina had his jurisdiction over the Leonine City, the Trastevere, and the Insula Tiberina (island in the Tiber) confirmed. Kehr II, p. 26, no. 3.
^Hüls, pp. 130-131. In April 1049, a suit between the Bishop of Porto and Crescentius of Silva Candida was heard by Pope Leo IX during his Lateran synod: Kehr II, p. 27, no. 6.
^He accompanied Leo IX from Burgundy to Rome; he was appointed Bishop of Sicily by that pope, but, having been prevented by the Normans from landing on the island, he received the See of Silva Candida, and later was sent to Constantinople to settle the controversies aroused by Michael Cærularius. He wrote against the errors of the Greeks and against Berengarius (1051–63). Hüls, pp. 131-134. Gams wrongly puts his death on 5 May 1063; it was actually in 1061.
^Hüls, pp. 134-136. Mainard subscribes in January 1063 as episcopus Silvae Candidae. Mainard de Sancta Rufina was present at the Roman synod of Pope Alexander II on 6 May 1065. He is addressed as Bishop of Rufina in a letter of Pope Alexander II in 1065/66: Kehr II, p. 27, no. 8. P. Ewald, "Die Papstbriefe der Britischen Sammlung," Neues Archiv (Hannover: Hahn) V, p. 329, note 2.
^In a document of January 1107, he styles himself Ego Petrus Portuensis episcopus gratia Dei et beati Petri apostoli et eiusdem domini nostri papae cardinalis sanctae Romanae et apostolicae sedis atque Rector Beneventanus.: Stefano Borgia, Memorie della pontifizia città di Benevento(in Italian)Parte III, volume 1 (Roma: Salomon 1769), p. 35. Pietro belonged to the Obedience of Pope Anacletus II from 1130 to his death in 1134. Hüls, pp. 122-124.
^Cardinal Giovanni belonged to the Obedience of Anacletus II, who died in 1138. All of the cardinals appointed by Anacletus were anathematized and deposed by Innocent II at the Second Lateran Council in 1139.
^Theodwin was a German, sent on many missions to Germany (1139, 1147) and to the Holy Land. F. Ughelli, Italia sacra Vol. I (second edition by N. Coleti) (Venice 1715), p. 126.
^Theodinus was sent to Normandy as legate, to obtain the submission of Henry II of England, and grant him absolution; he examined the case of the murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket.
^, who obtained the confirmation of all the rights of his see
^, of the house of the marchesi di Monferrato, sent on several occasions as legate by Innocent IV to Frederick II
^, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury, poisoned at Viterbo (1279)
^Matteo was a former general of the Franciscans and a noted theologian.
^Corsini participated in the abortive conclave of April 1378; he joined all the cardinals but one in anathematizing Urban VI as an intruder on the papal throne; he participated in the conclave of September 1378; he adhered to the Obedience of Clement VII.
^During the incumbency of Francesco Condulmer, Pope Nicholas V separated the sees of Porto and Santa Rufina in 1452, and gave the latter to John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury, at whose death (1453) the sees were reunited.
^Riario was a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV. He had previously been Cardinal-bishop of Albano (1503–1507), and of Sabina (1507–1508). He died on 9 July 1521. Eubel III, pp. 3, no. 6; 55-58.
^Soderini was previously Cardinal-bishop of Albano (1516–1517), and of Palestrina (1516–1523). He was Bishop of Porto from 9–18 December 1523. He died in Rome on 17 May 1524. Eubel III, pp. 8, no. 39; 55-58.
^La Tour d'Auvergne was earlier Cardinal-bishop of Albano (1689–1698), and of Porto (1698–1700). He died on 2 March 1715. Ritzler and Sefrin V, pp. 4, no. 4; 40. Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Biographical Dictionary, "La Tour d'Auvergne de Bouillon, Emmanuel Théodose"; retrieved: 2 December 2021.
^Lambruschini had been Bishop of Sabina (1842–1847). He was appointed Bishop of Porto on 11 June 1847 by Pope Pius IX. He died on 12 May 1854. Ritzler and Sefrin Hierarchia catholica VII, pp. 110, 220; VIII, p. 44.
Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi. Vol. Tomus VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. (in Latin)
