Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Ostia

Ostien(sis)

Ostia is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses of Rome and its see is held by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, currently Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. It has no resident diocesan bishop and is administered through the Diocese of Rome (the Cardinal Vicar of Rome).

The see

Rank
Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
259
Latin
Ostien(sis)
Patron
Saint Aurea of Ostia
Annuario code
001002486

The see in figures

Catholics
15,170
Population
18,500
Catholic share
82.0%

of the people living within its bounds

Extent
31 km²
Catholics per km²
489

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

Bishop
Angelo De Donatis
Born
4 January 1954
Birthplace
Casarano

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

Santa Aurea, Ostia Antica stands in Ostia, 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 Rome

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

One of the seven suburbicarian dioceses, the Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia lies within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. For centuries its bishop has been the dean of the College of Cardinals, and the incumbent is Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Santa Aurea serves as its cathedral, and today the diocese's territory is limited to that single cathedral parish. From 1105 to 1914 the see was merged with the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri, and in 1962 it was placed under the direct administration of the Diocese of Rome.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].