Patriarchate of Venice

The jurisdiction of the diocese includes 128 parishes in the communes of the Venice region: all in the province of Venice .

Parishes are united in 13 deans: San Marco Castello, San Polo Santa Croce-Dorsoduro, Lido , Cannaregio Eustario, Mestre, Carpenedo, Favaro Altino, Castellana, Marghera, Gambarare, Eraclea, Jesolo, Caorle.

From 1818 to 1968, there was also the Torcello district, which included the territories of the abolished diocese of Torcello. He was included in the deanery of Eustario ^[1] .

The patriarch's chair is located in the city of Venice in the Basilica of Saint Mark . Until 1807, St. Peter's Basilica in Castello bore the status of a cathedral and was the seat of the chair of the Patriarch of Venice.

The structure of the metropolis (church province) of Venice includes:

• Patriarchate of Venice;
  • Diocese of Adria-Rovigo ;
  • Diocese of Belluno Feltre ;
  • Diocese of Verona ;
  • Diocese of Vittorio Veneto ;
  • Diocese of Vicenza ;
  • Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone ;
  • Diocese of Chioggia ;
  • Diocese of Padua ;
  • Diocese of Treviso .

The Patriarchate of Venice was established on October 8, 1451 , and is the successor to the Patriarchate of Grado, which was founded in 607, due to the split in the Patriarchate of Aquileia (patriarchy since 557). After overcoming the split in 699, the Patriarchate of Grado retained its independence and acquired numerous suffraganism bishoprics in Venice and Istria.

In 774, the development of the city of Venice led to the creation of the Diocese of Olivolo on its territory. In 1074, the department from Olivolo was moved to Castello. In 1105, the patriarchs of Grado moved their residence to Venice and settled at the church of St. Sylvester.

In 1180, after lengthy disputes with the patriarch of Aquileia, the patriarch Grado ceded his jurisdiction over the dioceses of Istria and Venice-Julia.

When in the Middle Ages numerous towns on the coast and on the islands of the Gulf of Venice became part of Venice, several bishops appeared in the city, and each with its own jurisdiction:

• Patriarch Grado, with the patriarchal residence at the Church of St. Sylvester;
• Bishop of Castello, with a pulpit at the Basilica of St. Peter in Castello;
• First canon of the Basilica of St. Mark , chapel in the Doge's Palace and the state church of the Republic of Venice ;
• Latin Patriarch of Constantinople; the title established after the Crusaders conquered Constantinople in 1204 and assigned to the Venetians who returned to their hometown after the conquest of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1246 .

On the coast of the Gulf of Venice were the dioceses of Torcello, Chioggia, Caorle, Equilio and Heracles.

A series of upheavals that occurred in the 15th century led to a significant territorial reorganization of church structures in this area.

In 1440, Pope Eugene IV united the Diocese of Heracles and the Patriarchate of Grado. In 1446, he included the Diocese of Equilio in the Patriarchate of Grado.

In 1451, the title of the abolished Patriarchate Grado and the diocese of Castello became the basis for the new Patriarchate of Venice, with a chair in the Basilica of St. Peter in Castello. Despite the loud title, the jurisdiction of the patriarchs of Venice was initially limited to a small territory that included Venice and several enclaves on the mainland: Gambarare, inherited from the Abbey of St. Hilaria, and part of the abolished Patriarchate Grado - Grado, Latisan and Compardo (6 parishes east of Conegliano). The patriarchy included only three bishopric-suffraganship: Chioggia, Torcello and Caorle (the last two were abolished) ^[2] .

In 1465, the diocese of Chittanov, which since 1448 was under the leadership of the patriarchs, again received its own bishop.

In 1466, the Diocese of Equilio was included in the patriarchy.

On January 10, 1604, the Senate of the Venetian Republic forbade clergymen and monks to establish hospitals, monasteries, build churches and other places of worship without prior permission from Signoria. On March 26, 1605, another law prohibited the alienation of immovable property in favor of the Church and limited the powers of the church court. Civil courts were allowed to hear cases of the clergy (including the patriarch) in the event they committed particularly serious crimes. On April 17, 1606, Pope Paul V by the Superioribus mensibus bull excommunicated the Senate from the Church and imposed an interdict on the Republic of Venice, which lasted until April 21, 1607 .

In 1751, after the abolition of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, the Patriarchate of Venice remained the only one in the region.

In 1807, after the fall of the Republic of Venice, the title of First Canon of the Basilica of St. Mark was abolished, and the department of the Patriarchate of Venice was transferred to this church from the Basilica of St. Peter in Castello, since then bearing the status of co-cathedral.

May 1, 1818 for the first time the borders of the patriarchy were seriously expanded. Pope Pius VII Bulla De salute dominici gregis transferred to the patriarchate the territory of the abolished dioceses of Caorle (3 parishes) and Torcello (11 parishes). At the same time, Grado and Latisana became part of the diocese of Udine, and Compardo became part of the diocese of Cheneda (now Vittorio Veneto). The jurisdiction of the church area (metropolis) of Venice was extended to all of Venice and Friuli. The metropolitanate included the bishopric-suffraganism of Udine, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Treviso, Cheneda, Concordia, Feltre and Belluno, Adria, and also, temporarily, Chittanova, Kapodistrias (Koper), Parenzo (Porec) and Paula (Pula) ^{[2 ]} .

In 1919, the territory of the island of Lido (parish of Malamocco), formerly part of the diocese of Chioggia, became part of the patriarchy. In 1927, the diocese of Treviso ceded to the patriarchy a large part of the Martellago district with the parishes of Kirignago, Mestre, Dese, Favaro, Trivignano, Tselarino, Campalto and Carpenedo, as well as the parishes of Oraigo, Borbiago and Peace.

In 1964, the title of the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople was abolished.

The Department of Venice is traditionally engaged in cardinals . From 1827 to this day, all the patriarchs of Venice were cardinals. The Patriarch of Venice also bears the historical title of Primate of Dalmatia.

In the 20th century, three patriarchs were elected by the Popes under the names of Pius X , John XXIII and John Paul I.

Rite

In the Patriarchate of Venice, worship is conducted according to the Roman rite. Until 1596, worship was held in Venice according to the Aquileia rite, a tradition inherited from the patriarchy of Grado. This rite was partially used in the St. Mark's Basilica in Venice until 1807 when the patriarchs were erected to the pulpit. One of the features of the rite was a special type of polyphonic singing, called "patriarchal singing" or "aquilean".

Holidays of the Archdiocese

• April 25th . St. Mark's Day - the patron of the city.
• Ascension of the Lord . Religious procession to the church of St. Nicholas in Lido.
• Third Sunday of July . Day of the Savior. Religious procession to the Basilica of the Most Holy Redeemer.
• August 16th . St. Roch Day - the patron of the city.
• September 8th . Every fifth year is the Day of Madonna dell Angelo (Our Lady of the Angels) in Caorle (the next celebration is expected in 2015).
• November 21st . Day of the Madonna della Salute (Our Lady of the Healer). Religious procession to the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute.

Saints and Relics of the Archdiocese

Over its long and unique history, the archdiocese of Venice has acquired a large number of shrines and relics of saints. The following is an incomplete list:

• the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist , rest in the Basilica of St. Mark ;
• the relics of St. Gerard Sagredo , bishop and martyr, rest in the Basilica of St. Donatus ;
• the relics of St. Donatus , bishop and martyr, rest in the Basilica of St. Donatus in Murano ;
• the relics of St. John the Merciful , the patriarch of Alexandria, rest in the church of St. John the Merciful ;
• the relics of St. Lawrence Giustiniani rest in the Basilica of St. Peter in Castello;
• the relics of St. Roch , rest in the Church of St. Roch in Venice;
• the relics of St. Tarasius rest in the church of St. Zachariah ;
• the relics of St. Zachariah rest in the church of St. Zachariah ;
• the relics of St. Isidore of Chios , rest in the chapel of the Basilica of St. Mark ;
• the relics of St. Foska , rest in the church of St. Foska ;
• relics of St. Lucia of Syracuse , rest in the church of St. Jeremiah ;
• the relics of St. Stephen , rest in the church of St. Stephen ;
• relics of St. Magna , Bishop of Oderzo and Heracles, rest in the church of Santa Maria Concetta in Heracles;
• the relics of the Holy Empress Helena , mother of Emperor Constantine, rest in the church of the Holy Empress Helena in Venice;
• Skull of St. Stephen , resting in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Caorle;
• the skull of Saint Cecilia , resting in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello;
• particles of the relics of St. Nicholas , rest in the church of St. Nicholas in Lido ;
• particles of the relics of St. John the Baptist , rest in the church of St. John in Bragora;
• particles of the relics of St. Athanasius of Alexandria , the relics themselves rested until 1950 in the church of St. Zachariah ;
• particles of the relics of St. Barbara , rest in the church of St. Martin in Burano;
• Icon of Our Lady of Nicopeia , resting in the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice.

На конец 2012 года из 376 399 человек, проживающих на территории епархии, католиками являлись 348 922 человек, что соответствует 92,7 % от общего числа населения епархии.

Annuario pontificio за 2013 и предыдущие годы на сайте Сatholic-hierarchy.org , страница [1]

• Официальный сайт Патриархата Венеции
• Границы архиепархии на сайте gcatholic.org
• Fabio Mutinelli, Annali urbani di Venezia dall'anno 810 al 12 maggio 1797 , vol. I, Venezia 1841, p. 296
• Heinrich Kretschmayr, Geschichte von Venedig , vol. III, 1964, p. 572
• Enrico Cornet, Paolo V. e la Republica veneta , Vienna 1859, p. 6
• Santino Langè, La dimora dei patriarchi , Edizioni Marcianum Press, Venezia 2009.