is credited with being the first Bishop of Fano, and is supposed to have been appointed by Pope Sylvester I. The catalogue of Bishops of Fano before 499 is a recent invention. Eusebius accompanied Pope John I to Constantinople in 524, and may have been killed along with the Pope on their return in 526. Among the later bishops were Riccardo, persecuted by the magistrate Alberghetti; and the Dominican Pietro Bertano, an orator and advocate at the Council of Trent.
Cathedral and Chapter
In 1111, the cathedral and the Canonica were destroyed by fire. Rebuilding began in 1113. Bishop Carbo was the first to grant the Canons of the cathedral the right to use the title canonicati, on 6 September 1165, and he recognized all their rights and privileges. These had already been confirmed by Pope Eugenius III in 1152, and were confirmed again by Pope Urban III in 1186, by Pope Honorius III in 1218, and by Pope Julius II in 1504. The cathedral Chapter was composed of two dignities and twelve Canons, one of whom is called the Poenitentiarius and another the Theologus, as mandated by the Council of Trent. The cathedral is a parish church, and the Provost is the parish priest. One of the chaplains of the cathedral acts as his curate.
Synods
A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. Bishop Giulio Ottinelli held a diocesan synod in Fano on 16 August 1593. Bishop Angelo Maria Ranuzzi held a diocesan synod on 30 June 1680. Bishop Taddeo Luigi dal Verme presided over a diocesan synod on 29 May 1692. On 5 November 1702, Bishop Giovanni Battista Giberti held a diocesan synod. Bishop Giacomo Beni held a diocesan synod in 1740.
Reorganization of dioceses
In a decree of the Second Vatican Council, it was recommended that dioceses be reorganized to take into account modern developments. A project begun on orders from Pope John XXIII, and continued under his successors, was intended to reduce the number of dioceses in Italy and to rationalize their borders in terms of modern population changes and shortages of clergy. The change was made urgent because of changes made to the Concordat between the Italian State and the Holy See on 18 February 1984, and embodied in a law of 3 June 1985. The change was approved by Pope John Paul II in an audience of 27 September 1986, and by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops of the Papal Curia on 30 September 1986. The diocese of Fano was united to the dioceses of Cagli e Pergola and of Fossombrone. Its name was to be Fanensis-Forosemproniensis-Calliensis-Pergulanus. The seat of the diocese was to be in Fano. The former cathedral in Cagli and the former cathedral in Fossombrone were to have the honorary title of co-cathedral, and their chapters were to be the Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one episcopal curia, one seminary, one ecclesiastical tribunal; and all the clergy were to be incardinated in the diocese of Fano-Fossombrone-Caglia-Pergola. The combined diocese was suffragan of the Archdiocese of Urbino-Urbania-Sant'Angelo in Vado. In 2000, the Archdiocese of Urbino was deprived of its metropolitan status, and both Urbino and Fano became suffragans of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Pesaro.
