Diocese of Vicenza

• Saints Felix and Fortunatus , martyrs who suffered in Aquileia in the years 303-304.
• Holy Caetan of Thien (1480-1547).
• Giacomo Zanella ( 1820 - 1888 ).
• Giovanna Meneghini ( 1868 - 1918 ).
• St. Mary Bertilla Boscardin ( 1888 - 1922 ).
• Holy Eurosius Fabrice ( 1866 - 1932 ).
• Rinaldo Arnaldi ( 1914 - 1944 ).
• Saint Giuseppina Bachita ( 1869 - 1947 ).
• Ottorino Zanon ( 1915 - 1972 ).
• Michele Carlotto ( 1919 - 2007 ).

The jurisdiction of the diocese includes 354 parishes in communes in a large part of the province of Vicenza (with the exception of several communes belonging to the diocese of Padua , and the city of Mussolente , which is part of the diocese of Treviso ), as well as in the provinces of Padua (Campodoro, Gazzo, Fontaniva, Carmignano di Brenta, San Pietro in Gu, Piazzolla sul Brenta, San Giorgio in Bosco, Grantorto) and Verona (Colonia Veneta, Pressana, Roveredo di Gua, Veronella, Montecchia di Crozara, Ronca, San Giovanni Hilariaone, San Bonifacio, Arcole, Zimella).

All parishes are united in 22 deanships : Cities of Vicenza, Camisano Vicentino, Piazzolla sul Brenta, Fontaniva, Roza, Bassano del Grappa, Marostika, Sandrigo, Douville, Castelnovo di Isola Vicentina, Malo, Schio, Arziero, Valdiaro, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castrojo, Castroño, Caillojo Montecchio Maggiore, Lonigo, San Bonifacio, Colonia Veneta, Noventa Vicentina and Barbarano Vicentino.

The department of Vicenza was founded in the IV century. At this time, in the city of Vicenza, the Christian community had two churches - one outside the city wall, where the basilica of Saints Felix and Fortunate now stands, the other within the city, where the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is now located.

According to some researchers, the department of Vicenza was founded in the VI century. They refer to a document of 590, in which Paul the Deacon gives the name of Oronius, Bishop of Vicenza, who attended the council in Marano. This is the first written mention of the bishop of Vicenza, who was previously absent from the documents of previous councils, which allows us to confirm the foundation of the diocese during the formation of the Lombard State . Until that time, Vicenza Christians were under the jurisdiction of the bishops of Padua, who for another 35 years were under the rule of Byzantium .

Like the other bishops of the State of the Lombards, Oronius and his successors departed from the split of the " Three Chapters " at the Cathedral in Pavia (698), convened by King Kunipert , who professed the Orthodox teaching of the Church. Since the 7th century, the bishop’s chair has been located in the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the Kingdom of the Lombards, the borders of the diocese coincided with the duchy of Vicenza, including the territory of the diocese of Padua, which was included in Byzantium in 569. With the establishment of the Carolingian Empire , the Diocese of Padua was restored to its former borders. In 917, Emperor Berengar I gave her part of the territory from the diocese of Vicenza, which he offset by the inclusion in the diocese of Vicenza of several lands of the abolished diocese of Asolo.

In the second half of the XII century, the Vicenza department was occupied by Blessed John de Surdis Cacciaffronte, who was killed by his vassals, and in the XIII century the Dominican ruled the diocese, blessed Bartholomew di Breganza, who built the Church of the Holy Crown, where he placed the shrine - a thorn from the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ.

Until the XIII century, the cathedral was the only parish in the city, but in this century the privilege of serving the Liturgy was granted to the chapels that appeared in the city in the XI century and elevated to the rank of churches. The sacrament of baptism was still performed exclusively in the cathedral. From that time onwards, monastic orders began active work in the diocese.

In the first half of the 15th century, after two appearances of the Mother of God, the Basilica of the Madonna di Monte Berico was built. The Monteberic image of Our Lady is the patron saint of the city and diocese of Vicenza.

On August 30, 1464, the local bishop Pietro Barbo was elected Pope under the name of Paul II.

In the first half of the 16th century, the diocese was governed in succession by several apostolic administrators.

The diocesan seminary was founded in 1566 under Bishop Matteo Priuli.

On July 6, 1751, after the abolition of the patriarchy of Aquileia, the diocese of Vicenza entered the church province of the archdiocese of Udine .

On May 1, 1818, the bullion of De Dominici gregis changed the boundaries of the bishopric, while the diocese of Vicenza itself became part of the church province of the Patriarchate of Venice .

At the beginning of the 20th century, many holy women labored in the diocese - Giuseppina Bakhita , Maria Bertilla Boskardin , Eurosia Fabrice-Barban and Giovanna Meneghini .

On September 7 and 8, 1991, Pope John Paul II arrived in Vicenza on a pastoral visit, becoming the first pontiff to visit the diocese.

Benyamino Pizziol

Benjamino Pizziol (born 15.06.1947, Cavallino-Treporti), former vicar of the Patriarchate of Venice since 2008, was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Vicenza by Pope Benedict XVI on April 16, 2011 . Prior to this, the Vicenza department was vacant for 6 months.

At the end of 2010, out of 855,608 people living in the diocese, 790,840 were Catholics, which corresponds to 92.4% of the total population of the diocese.

• Annuario pontificio for 2011 and previous years at Catholic-hierarchy.org , page [1]
• Official site of the diocese of Vicenza
• Site of the Caritas branch in the diocese of Vicenza
• Germano Gualdo, Contributo alla cronologia dei vescovi di Vicenza dal secolo VI a tutto il XII , in "Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia", 10 (1956), pp. 1-48.
• Ignazio Savi, Notizia compendiosa dei Vescovi Vicentini , Vicenza, Paroni, 1818
• Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae , Leipzig 1931, pp. 806-808 (lat.)
• Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi , vol. 1 , p. 526; vol. 2 , pp. XXXXIII, 267; vol. 3 , p. 333; vol. 4 , pp. 367-368 (lat.)

• Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Vicenza)
• Basilica of the Madonna di Monte Berico (Vicenza)