Archdiocese of Lecce
Lycien(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Lecce, Italy
The Archdiocese of Lecce is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese in Apulia, Italy, elevated to metropolitan status in 1980. Angelo Raffaele Panzetta was appointed archbishop in June 2025, succeeding Michele Seccia.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1057
- Latin
- Lycien(sis)
- Patron
- <li>san Oronzo<li>san Fortunato<li>san Justo
- Annuario code
- 001001976
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 295,280
- Population
- 296,580
- Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
- 99.6%
- Priests
- 115
- Catholics per priest
- 2,568
- Extent
- 750 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 394
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
- Archbishop
- Angelo Raffaele Panzetta
- Born
- 26 August 1966
- Birthplace
- Pulsano
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
Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Assunta stands in Lecce, 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 Lecce
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of Brindisi–OstuniBrindisi–Ostuni
- Diocese of Nardò–GallipoliNardò–Gallipoli
- Archdiocese of OtrantoOtranto
- Diocese of Ugento–Santa Maria di LeucaUgento–Santa Maria di Leuca
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
A Latin Church territory in Apulia, southern Italy, the Archdiocese of Lecce (Latin: Archidioecesis Lyciensis) traces its diocesan existence to the 11th century. By the bull Cum a nobis of 28 September 1960, Pope John XXIII removed the diocese of Lecce from the ecclesiastical province of Otranto and placed it directly under the Holy See. Pope John Paul II then created the ecclesiastical province of Lecce in the bull Conferentia Episcopalis Apuliae of 20 October 1980, at which point the Archdiocese of Otranto became a suffragan diocese.
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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.