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Diocese of Acireale

Iacien(sis)

The Diocese of Acireale is a Latin Church diocese in Sicily, Italy, established in 1844 though it did not receive its first bishop until 1872. Since 2000 it has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Catania.

The see

Rank
Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
27 June 1844
Latin
Iacien(sis)
Patron
Maria Santissima Annunziata
Annuario code
001000597

The see in figures

Catholics
229,000
Population
233,000
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
98.3%
Priests
152
Catholics per priest
1,507
Extent
665 km²
Catholics per km²
344

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Antonino Raspanti
Born
20 June 1959
Birthplace
Alcamo

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Basilica Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Annunziata stands in Acireale, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Catania

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Catania.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

This Sicilian see (Latin: Dioecesis Iaciensis) had an unusual beginning: created on paper in 1844, it was not actually founded, and received no bishop, until 1872. For well over a century afterward, from 1872 to 2000, Acireale answered directly to the Holy See. Since 2000 it has been a suffragan of the archdiocese of Catania.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.