Continuing a trend that has accelerated in recent years, Pope Francis on March 4 united two Italian dioceses in persona episcopi [in the person of the bishop].
While continuing to govern the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina (which was formed from a 1976 diocesan merger), Archbishop Antonio Giuseppe Caiazzo will also govern the Diocese of Tricarico.
It was the third such union in 2023, and at least the seventeenth such union since 2019.
Such arrangements for Italy’s 227 dioceses have become increasingly routine:
- In February 2019, Pope Francis united two Italian dioceses (Tivoli and Palestrina) in the person of Bishop Mauro Parmeggiani.
- In April 2020, Pope Francis united two Italian dioceses (Nuoro and Lanusei) in the person of Bishop Antonio Mura.
- In June 2020, Pope Francis united two Italian dioceses (Camerino-San Severino Marche and Fabriano-Matelica) in the person of Archbishop Francesco Massara.