Novara (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]

Bishop(s)

Franco Giulio Brambilla, Bishop

General Information

Type of Jurisdiction: Diocese
Erected: 4th Century
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Vercelli
Rite: Latin (or Roman)
Country: Italy
Square Kilometers: 4,283 (1,654 Square Miles)
Conference Region: Piemonte
Official Web Site: http://www.diocesinovara.it/
Mailing Address: Vescovado, Via Puccini 11, 28100 Novara, Italia
Telephone: 0321.66.16.34
Fax: 0321.66.16.64

Past and Present Ordinaries

Gerardo da Sessa, O. Cist. † ( 1209 Appointed - 4 May 1211 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Oldeberto Tornielli † (21 May 1213 Appointed - Sep 1235 Died)
Odemaro Buzio † (1 Oct 1235 Appointed - 10 Apr 1249 Died)
Sigebaldo Caballazio † ( 1249 Appointed - 1278 Died)
Englesio Caballazio, O.F.M. † (14 Feb 1287 Appointed - 21 Jan 1297 Died)
Papiniano della Rovere † (4 Feb 1296 Appointed - 3 Jun 1300 Appointed, Bishop of Parma)
Bartolomeo Querini † (8 Jan 1303 Appointed - 10 Jan 1304 Appointed, Bishop of Trento)
Uguccione Borromeo † (19 Feb 1304 Appointed - 1329 Died)
Giovanni Visconti † (1 Aug 1331 Appointed - 17 Jul 1342 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Guglielmo Amidano, O.E.S.A. † (17 Jul 1342 Appointed - 29 Jan 1355 Died)
Oldrado Maineri † (12 Oct 1356 Appointed - 1388 Died)
Pietro Filargis, O.F.M. † (18 Sep 1389 Appointed - 17 May 1402 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Giovanni Capogallo, O.S.B. † (4 Aug 1402 Appointed - 15 Jun 1413 Died)
Pietro de Giorgi † (15 Feb 1413 Appointed - 4 Nov 1429 Appointed, Archbishop of Genova)
Bartolomeo Visconti † (4 Nov 1429 Appointed - 1457 Died)
Giacomo Filippo Crivelli † (30 May 1457 Appointed - 1466 Died)
Bernardo Rossi † (8 Oct 1466 Appointed - 1468 Died)
Giovanni Arcimboldo † (20 Nov 1468 Appointed - 25 Oct 1484 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Ascanio Maria Sforza † (25 Oct 1484 Appointed - 18 Apr 1485 Resigned)
Girolamo Pallavicini † (18 Apr 1485 Appointed - 18 Aug 1503 Resigned)
Matthäus Schiner (Schinner) † (6 Feb 1512 Appointed - 1516 Resigned)
Antonio Maria Ciocchi del Monte † (19 Apr 1516 Appointed - 20 Dec 1525 Resigned)
Ermete Stampa † (20 Dec 1525 Appointed - 1526 Died)
Giovanni Angelo Arcimboldi † (2 Mar 1526 Appointed - 19 Mar 1550 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Ippolito d’Este (II) † (19 Mar 1550 Appointed - 18 Nov 1551 Resigned)
Giulio della Rovere † (18 Nov 1551 Appointed - 10 Sep 1552 Resigned)
Giovanni Gerolamo Morone (Moroni) † (12 Sep 1552 Appointed - 13 Mar 1560 Resigned)
Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni † (13 Mar 1560 Appointed - 26 Apr 1574 Resigned)
Romolo Archinto † (26 Apr 1574 Appointed - 4 Sep 1576 Died)
Girolamo Ragazzoni † (19 Sep 1576 Appointed - 19 Jul 1577 Appointed, Bishop of Bergamo)
Pomponio Cotta † (19 Jul 1577 Appointed - 11 Sep 1579 Died)
Francesco Bossi † (21 Oct 1579 Appointed - 18 Sep 1584 Died)
Gaspare Visconti † (5 Nov 1584 Appointed - 28 Nov 1584 Appointed, Archbishop of Milano {Milan})
Cesare Speciano (Speciani) † (28 Nov 1584 Appointed - 30 Jan 1591 Appointed, Bishop of Cremona)
Pietro Martire Ponzone † (8 Feb 1591 Appointed - 19 Nov 1592 Died)
Carlo Bescapè, B. † (8 Feb 1593 Appointed - 6 Oct 1615 Died)
Ferdinando Taverna † (16 Nov 1615 Appointed - 29 Aug 1619 Died)
Ulpiano (Volpiano) Volpi † (13 Nov 1619 Appointed - 10 Mar 1629 Died)
Giovanni Pietro Volpi † (10 Mar 1629 Succeeded - 12 Sep 1636 Died)
Antonio Tornielli † (15 Dec 1636 Appointed - 8 Mar 1650 Died)
Bl. Benedetto Odescalchi † (4 Apr 1650 Appointed - 6 Mar 1656 Resigned)
Giulio Maria Odescalchi, O.S.B. † (6 Mar 1656 Appointed - 28 Aug 1666 Died)
Giuseppe Maria Maraviglia, C.R. † (12 Dec 1667 Appointed - 19 Sep 1684 Died)
Giovanni Battista Visconti Aicardi, B. † (31 May 1688 Appointed - 10 Aug 1713 Died)
Giberto Bartolomeo Borromeo † (17 Jan 1714 Appointed - 22 Jan 1740 Died)
Pietro Alessandro Francesco Rovèro di Cortanze, O.F.M. Cap. † (18 Sep 1741 Appointed - 26 Oct 1747 Died)
Giovanni Battista Baratta, C.O. † (29 Jan 1748 Appointed - 11 Apr 1748 Died)
Ignazio Rovèro † (15 Jul 1748 Appointed - 10 Sep 1756 Died)
Marco Aurelio Balbis Bertone † (3 Jan 1757 Appointed - 17 May 1789 Died)
Carlo Luigi Buronzo del Signore † (26 Sep 1791 Confirmed - 24 Jul 1797 Confirmed, Archbishop of Torino {Turin})
Vittorio Filippo Melano di Portula, O.P. † (24 Jul 1797 Confirmed - 23 Dec 1813 Died)
Giuseppe Morozzo Della Rocca † (1 Oct 1817 Confirmed - 22 Mar 1842 Died)
Giacomo Filippo Gentile † (27 Jan 1843 Confirmed - 23 Oct 1875 Died)
Stanislao Eula † (28 Jan 1876 Appointed - 10 Apr 1886 Died)
Giovanni Maria Davide Eugenio Felice Riccardi † (7 Jun 1886 Appointed - 14 Dec 1891 Appointed, Archbishop of Torino {Turin})
Edoardo Pulciano † (11 Jul 1892 Appointed - 16 Dec 1901 Appointed, Archbishop of Genova)
Mattia Vicario † (16 Dec 1901 Appointed - 5 Mar 1906 Died)
Giuseppe Gamba † (13 Aug 1906 Appointed - 20 Dec 1923 Appointed, Archbishop of Torino {Turin})
Giuseppe Castelli † (21 Oct 1924 Appointed - 12 Sep 1943 Died)
Leone Giacomo Ossola, O.F.M. Cap. † (9 Sep 1945 Appointed - 11 Jun 1951 Resigned)
Gilla Vincenzo Gremigni, M.S.C. † (29 Jun 1951 Appointed - 7 Jan 1963 Died)
Placido Maria Cambiaghi, B. † (28 Feb 1963 Appointed - 30 Oct 1971 Resigned)
Aldo Del Monte † (15 Jan 1972 Appointed - 19 Dec 1990 Retired)
Renato Corti † (19 Dec 1990 Appointed - 24 Nov 2011 Retired)
Franco Giulio Brambilla (24 Nov 2011 Appointed - )

Historical Summary

Date	Event	From	To
4th Century	Erected		Diocese of Novara (erected)
14 March 1530	Territory Lost	Diocese of Novara	Diocese of Vigevano (erected)
17 July 1817	Metropolitan Changed		Diocese of Novara (from Milano)
26 June 2016	Territory Added	Diocese of Vigevano (S. Silvano Martire (Sozzago in Novara))	Diocese of Novara
26 June 2016	Territory Lost	Diocese of Novara (Blessed Vergine Assunta (Gravellona Lomellina in Pavia))	Diocese of Vigevano

Year Catholics Total Population Percent Catholic Diocesan Priests Religious Priests Total Priests Catholics Per Priest Permanent Deacons Male Religious Female Religious Parishes Source

1821 238,904 .0% OTC

1835 355 OTC

1886 362,045 .0% 820 0 379 OTC

1950 419,500 420,000 99.9% 610 230 840 499 190 2,294 381 ap1951

1970 538,000 540,000 99.6% 538 538 1,000 408 ap1971

1980 540,000 566,689 95.3% 475 208 683 790 4 281 1,932 419 ap1981

1990 567,000 589,000 96.3% 454 180 634 894 9 212 1,430 346 ap1991

1999 512,000 530,000 96.6% 413 136 549 932 13 193 1,180 346 ap2000

2000 510,000 529,000 96.4% 406 132 538 947 12 187 1,170 346 ap2001

2001 528,000 533,650 98.9% 402 135 537 983 13 191 1,210 346 ap2002

2002 518,300 530,300 97.7% 399 137 536 966 13 198 1,185 346 ap2003

2003 517,600 529,900 97.7% 396 132 528 980 15 177 1,160 346 ap2004

2004 525,265 545,065 96.4% 388 133 521 1,008 15 176 1,125 346 ap2005

2013 534,900 569,800 93.9% 332 176 508 1,052 21 206 782 346 ap2014

2016 531,000 567,684 93.5% 306 172 478 1,110 21 205 750 346 ap2017

2019 528,000 564,900 93.5% 277 178 455 1,160 20 209 698 346 ap2020

2021 521,730 562,750 92.7% 258 71 329 1,585 19 102 632 343 ap2022

Year	Catholics	Total Population	Percent Catholic	Diocesan Priests	Religious Priests	Total Priests	Catholics Per Priest	Permanent Deacons	Male Religious	Female Religious	Parishes	Source
1821		238,904	.0%									OTC
1835											355	OTC
1886		362,045	.0%			820	0				379	OTC
1950	419,500	420,000	99.9%	610	230	840	499		190	2,294	381	ap1951
1970	538,000	540,000	99.6%	538		538	1,000				408	ap1971
1980	540,000	566,689	95.3%	475	208	683	790	4	281	1,932	419	ap1981
1990	567,000	589,000	96.3%	454	180	634	894	9	212	1,430	346	ap1991
1999	512,000	530,000	96.6%	413	136	549	932	13	193	1,180	346	ap2000
2000	510,000	529,000	96.4%	406	132	538	947	12	187	1,170	346	ap2001
2001	528,000	533,650	98.9%	402	135	537	983	13	191	1,210	346	ap2002
2002	518,300	530,300	97.7%	399	137	536	966	13	198	1,185	346	ap2003
2003	517,600	529,900	97.7%	396	132	528	980	15	177	1,160	346	ap2004
2004	525,265	545,065	96.4%	388	133	521	1,008	15	176	1,125	346	ap2005
2013	534,900	569,800	93.9%	332	176	508	1,052	21	206	782	346	ap2014
2016	531,000	567,684	93.5%	306	172	478	1,110	21	205	750	346	ap2017
2019	528,000	564,900	93.5%	277	178	455	1,160	20	209	698	346	ap2020
2021	521,730	562,750	92.7%	258	71	329	1,585	19	102	632	343	ap2022