The diocese of Aversa is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

, southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, created in 1053. It is suffragan of the archdiocese of Naples.

History

The city of Aversa

Aversa

Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...

 arose in the 11th century, near the destroyed Atella

Atella

Atella was an ancient city of Campania, halfway between Naples and Capua; its ruins lie between the towns of Orta di Atella and Sant'Arpino. Atella is not mentioned until the Second Punic War, when, although an independent city striking its own coinage, it was allied with Capua and the other...

. The Norman Duke Robert Guiscard

Robert Guiscard

Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...

 built a fortification which in time became an urban centre. Duke Robert, becoming a vassal of the pope and supporting him in his struggle with the Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

, obtained permission from Pope Leo IX

Pope Leo IX

Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He was a German aristocrat and as well as being Pope was a powerful secular ruler of central Italy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19...

 to have the Bishopric of Atella transferred to Aversa.

On Saturday, January 15, 2011, the Vatican Information Service

Vatican Information Service

The Vatican Information Service is an official news service of the Holy See Press Office.The service was founded in 1991, and transmits news on a daily basis at 3pm Rome time, except during the month of August and on Vatican State holidays .The service is available in four languages: English,...

 announced that Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 had appointed Bishop Angelo Spinillo, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Teggiano-Policastro

Roman Catholic Diocese of Teggiano-Policastro

The Italian Catholic diocese of Teggiano-Policastro, in Campania, has existed since 1986. In that year the diocese of Diano-Teggiano was united with the diocese of Policastro. The diocese is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno....

, as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aversa (area 361, population 566,680, Catholics 549,070, priests 210, permanent deacons 24, religious 458), Italy. He succeeds Archbishop-Bishop Mario Milano, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.