(C OMPSANA )

Archdiocese with the perpetual administration of Campagna ( Campaniensis ). Conza, a city of the province of Avellino, Southern Italy, on the River Ofanto (the ancient Aufidus), was formerly called Compsa, and belonged to the Hirpini, allies of the Samnites during their wars with the Romans. It was captured in 213 B.C. by Fabius Maximus and was made a Roman colony. During the Second Punic War it was betrayed to Hannibal (214 B.C.) and opened the way to Capua. The city was twice destroyed by earthquakes (980, 1694), and was at one time nearly abandoned. The first known Bishop of Conza is Pelagius, who was present at the Roman synod of 743 held under Pope Zachary. The see was raised to the rank of an archbishopric under Alexander II or Gregory VII (i.e. between 1061 and 1085), having previously been a suffragan of Salerno. Among the bishops worthy of mention is the Blessed Erberto (1169). The bishops resided either in their feudal stronghold of San Menna, at Campagna, or at Sant' Angelo de' Lombardi , the present episcopal residence. The Diocese of Campagna was erected by Clement VII, 19 June, 1525; the see was vacant from 1793 to 1818, when it was placed under Conza. The dioceses together have a population of 123,000, with 37 parishes, 230 churches and chapels, 232 secular and 10 regular priests, 3 religious houses of men and 5 of women.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online