The Diocese of Amelia comprises seven towns in the province of Perugia, Italy, and is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Holy See. The Christian origin of this Umbrian mountain town is wrapped in mystery. The Bishopric of Amelia appears on the pages of history relatively late. Ughelli mentions an Orthodolphus, Bishop, about the year 344. He mentions also Stephen, of whom there is no trace in history. Flavius, Bishop of Amelia, seems to have been present at a synod held at Rome, 14 November, 465, by Pope Hilary. Ughelli goes on to enumerate Tiburtius, Martinianus, and then a Sallustino present at a synod held in 502 under Pope Symmachus. Still further according to Ughelli, in the fifth century there was a Bishop of Amelia by name Sincerus. The Bollandists, however, show that the date of his episcopate is uncertain; there is question even of his very existence (June, III, 17). A Bishop of Amelia still appears in 649 at the provincial synod held by Pope Martin at the Lateran. The city of Amelia had great political importance during the eighth century, when between the opposition of the iconoclast Byzantine emperors and the conquering Lombard power in the centre of Italy the temporal power of the popes grew from day to day. There are 20 parishes, 31 secular priests, 43 regular priests, 78 churches and chapels. The population is 19,500.

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