Diocese of Recanati and Loreto

DIOCESE OF RECANATI AND LORETO (RECINETENSIS)

Province of Ancona, Central Italy, so called from the inhabitants of ancient Recina, capital of Picenum, who, after the devastation of their country by Alaric, established Recanati. Claudius, who attended the Council of Rimini, is believed to have been Bishop of Recina. Recanati was subject to the Diocese of Umana until 1240, when Gregory IX deprived Osimo of its see and transferred it to Recanati. Ranieri, Bishop of Osimo, was the first Bishop of Recanati. In 1263, Recanati, having espoused the cause of Manfred, was deprived of the see which was retransferred to Osimo. Restored in 1289, the See of Recanati was again transferred, in 1320, to Macerata. In 1357 Recanati, united with Macerata, was again made a diocese. Noteworthy bishops were: Marino del Tocco (1412), whose election was contested by the party of John XXIII and King Ladislaus; Giovanni Vitelleschi (1431), afterwards cardinal and commander of the armies of Eugenius IV. In the sixteenth century the sees of Macerata and Recanati were several times separated and reunited. In 1586 Sixtus V definitely separated Macerata from Recanati and created the Diocese of Loreto, to which in 1591 was added aeque principaliter that of Recanati. The first bishop of the united sees was Rutilio Benzoni (1587), who was succeeded by the cardinals Agostino Gelamini (1613) and Giulio Roma (1621). Other bishops were: Cardinal Alessandro Crescenzi (1676), and Lorenzo Gherardi (1693), both famed for their benefactions; Stefano Bellini (1807) and Giuseppe Cardoni (1863-67). The ancient Abbey of S. Maria in Potenza is in this diocese. Recanati was the birthplace of Blessed Girolamo Gherarducci and Blessed Placido (fourteenth century), also of the littérateurs Monaldo and Giacomo Leopardi. The united dioceses have 8 parishes with a population of 26,000; 48 secular and 40 regular priests; 8 religious houses of men and 12 of women; 1 school for boys and 5 for girls.

CAPPELLETTI, Le chiese d=92Italia, VII (Venice, 1857); VOGEL, De eclesiis Recanatensi et Lauretana (Recanati, 1859).

U. BENIGNI