Castelsardo or Tempio is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic diocese of Ampurias (not to be confused with its Catalan namesake) in Sardinia, suffragan of the archbishopric of Sassari. Empúries is a town in the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Empordà. It was founded by the ancient Greeks with the name of Emporion (that is market). ... Sardinia (American pronunciation)(Sardegna in Italian, Sardigna or Sardinna in the Sardinian language, is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (Sicily is the largest), between Italy, Spain and Tunisia, south of Corsica. ... A bishop is an ordained person who holds a specific position of authority in any of a number of Christian churches. ...

Ecclesiastical history

The Right Rev. Antonio Maria Contini, born 6 November 1839, was appointed Bishop of Ogliastra on 26 September 1882, and transferred to this diocese on 16 January 1893. Ampurias was erected in 1113; Cività, now Tempio, in 304 by St. Simplicius. Cività was united to Ampurias by pope Julius II in 1506. Later the see was transferred to Terranuova. Ogliastra is a geographical and cultural region in eastern Sardinia, Italy. ... Julius II, born Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), was Pope from 1503 to 1513. ...

Pope Gregory XVI suppressed the cathedral there by the Papal Bull "Quamvis aqua", 26 August 1839, and raised the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, in Tempio, to a cathedral, uniting Tempio and Ampurias, so that one bishop should govern both. The see was vacant from 1854 to 1871. Gregory XVI, né Bartolommeo Alberto Cappellari (September 18, 1765 - June 1, 1846), was Pope from 1831 to 1846. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... Papal bull of Pope Urban VIII, 1637, sealed with a leaden bulla. ... A collegiate church was a church served and administered by a body of canons or prebendaries, similar to a cathedral, although they were not the seat of a bishop. ...

In the early 20th century Ampurias, or Castelsardo, had 11,200 Catholics, 8 parishes, 25 secular priests, 5 seminarists, 34 churches or chapels. Tempio had 26,200 Catholics, 17 parishes, 44 secular priests, 6 seminarists, 71 churches or chapels.

Source

• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. [1]