The Diocese of Crete () is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in Greece.

History

Roman Catholic presence on the island of Crete dates to its conquest by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

in the years after the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

(1204), and its establishment as a Venetian colony in 1212. Immediately after that, the first

Latin Rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

Archbishop of Crete was appointed, with a succession of holders until the Ottoman conquest of the island in the

Cretan War (1645–1669) The Cretan War (; ), also known as the War of Candia () or the fifth Ottoman–Venetian war, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies (chief among them the Knights of Malta, the Papal States and France) against the Ottoman ...

. Thereafter the see remained vacant, until re-established as a simple bishopric on 28 August 1874, initially a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir, but today a suffragan of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos The Archdiocese of Naxos, Tinos, Andros, and Mykonos () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic church in insular Greece.Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published sources, Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published sources, Its cathedral archiep ...

. Present day Catholic Churches in Heraklion (Saint John The Baptist), Chania, Rethymnon (St. Antony of Padua)

Bishops

Venetian period

* anonymous (1213 – ?), took part in the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (September 1217 - August 29, 1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al- ...

in 1220Louise Buenger Robbert, "Venetian Participation in the Crusade of Damietta", ''Studi veneziani'', Ser. NS, vol. 30 (1995), pp. 15–34, at 25. The archbishop arrived after the siege of Damietta along with Archbishop Henry of Milan and probably brought with him a small Venetian contingent. * Giovanni Querini (? – 17 July 1252, named Bishop of Ferrara with the personal rank of archbishop) * Angelo Maltraverso, OP (1252 – 28 May 1255, named Patriarch of Grado) * Leonardo Pantaleo (1260 – 1268) * anonymous (mentioned 10 May 1282) * Matteo, OP (31 January 1289 – ?) * Angelo Beacqua (7 April 1294 – ?, deceased) ** ''See united with the

Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople The Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople was an office established as a result of the Fourth Crusade and its conquest of Constantinople in 1204. It was a Roman Catholic replacement for the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantino ...

(1302–1314)'' * Alessandro di Sant'Elpidio, OESA (2 March 1314 – 1334, dismissed) * Egidio di Gallutiis, OP (11 May 1334 – 6 December 1340, deceased) * Francesco Michiel (before 25 September 1342 – ?, named Bishop of Patara with the personal rank of archbishop) * Orso Dolfin (30 March 1349 – 5 November 1361, named patriarch of Grado) ** Orso Dolfin (5 November 1361 – 1363), apostolic administrator * Pietro Tommaso, OCarm (6 March 1363 – 5 July 1364, named patriarch of Constantinople) * Francesco Querini (5 July 1364 – 22 December 1367, named patriarch of Grado) * Antonio Negri (15 January 1369 – ?) * Pietro (April 1375 – ?) * Matteo (19 March 1378 – ?) * Cristoforo Gallina ? * Antonio Contarini (6 April 1386 – 16 March 1387, deceased) * Leonardo Dolfin (7 May 1387 – 29 April 1392, named Bishop of Castello with the personal rank of archbishop) * Marco Giustiniani (31 August 1392 – 1405, deceased) * Francesco Pavoni (13 February 1406 – 1407?, deceased) * Marco Marin (18 October 1407 – ?, deceased) * Leonardo Dolfin (14 September 1408 – 1415, deceased) * Pietro Donà (18 April 1415 – 1425, named Bishop of Castello with the personal rank of archbishop) * Fantino Valaresso (5 December 1425 – 18 May 1443, deceased) * Fantino Dandolo (4 September 1444 – 8 January 1448, named bishop of Padua with the personal rank of archbishop) * Filippo Paruta (arcivescovo), Filippo Paruta (20 February 1448 – 1458, deceased) * Gerolamo Lando (29 March 1458 – 1493/1494, dismissed) * Andrea Lando (4 July 1494 – 1505, deceased) * Giovanni Lando (2 March 1506 – 1534 ?) **

Lorenzo Campeggio Lorenzo Campeggio (7 November 1474 – 19 July 1539) was an Italians, Italian cardinal and politician. He was the last cardinal protector of England. Life Campeggio was born in Milan to a noble family, the eldest of five sons. Campeggio initi ...

(17 June 1534 – 1535), apostolic administrator * Pietro Lando (28 January 1536 – 1575, dismissed) * Lorenzo Vitturi (6 February 1576 – 5 February 1597, deceased) * Tommaso Contarini (4 July 1597 – 7 February 1604, deceased) * Aloisio Grimani (7 January 1605 – 21 February 1620, deceased) * Pietro Valier (18 May 1620 – 2 October 1623, named Bishop of Ceneda with the personal rank of archbishop) * Luca Stella (4 December 1623 – 24 November 1632, named Bishop of Vicenza with the personal rank of archbishop) * Leonardo Mocenigo (20 June 1633 – 1644, deceased) * Giovanni Querini (19 November 1644 – ?, deceased) See vacant from 1669.

Modern period

* Bishop Petros Stefanou, (Apostolic Administrator); * Bishop Frangkiskos Papamanolis, OFMCap (Apostolic Administrator 1974.06.27 – 2014.05.13) * Bishop Georges Xenopulos, SJ (Apostolic Administrator 1952 – 1974) * Fr. Arsenio da Corfù, OFMCap (Apostolic Administrator 1951 – 1952) * Fr. Amedeo Marcantonio Speciale da Gangi, OFMCap (Apostolic Administrator 1945? – 1951) * Fr. Roberto da Gangi, OFMCap (Apostolic Administrator 1939 – 1945?) * Bishop Lorenzo Giacomo Inglese, OFMCap (1934.02.01 – 1935.05.05) * Fr. Isidoro da Smirne, OFMCap (Apostolic Administrator 1926 – 1933?) * Bishop Francesco Giuseppe Seminara, OFMCap (1910.06.22 – 1926.03.15) * Bishop Luigi Canavo, OFMCap (1874.12.22 – 1889.05.10)

References

Sources