Roman Catholic Diocese of Volterra
The Diocese of Volterra () is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa. History. Volterra is an ancient Etruscan town, later conquered by the Romans. According to the "Liber Pontificalis", Volterra was the birthplace of St. Linus, the immediate successor of St. Peter. Nothing is known as to its Christian origins. Justus (560), the brother of Clement, who with Ottaviano are the three patrons of the diocese of Volterra, was at first involved in the Schism of the Three Chapters. In the Carolingian period it  belonged to the Marquisate of Tuscany; with the approval of Henry, son of Frederick Barbarossa, the government of it afterwards passed into the hands of the bishop, until his temporal authority was suspended by the commune. In the wars or factions of the 13th century, Volterra, being Ghibelline, was continually embroiled with the Florentines, who captured it in 1254, but obtained definitive possession of it only in 1361. The diocese of Volterra was immediately subject to the Holy See until 1856, when it became a suffragan of Pisa. Diocesan synods. A diocesan synod was an irregularly held, but important, meeting  of the bishop of a diocese and his clergy. Its purpose was (1) to proclaim generally the various decrees already issued by the bishop; (2) to discuss and ratify measures on which the bishop chose to consult with his clergy; (3) to publish statutes and decrees of the diocesan synod, of the provincial synod, and of the Holy See. Bishop Guido Servidio (1574–1598) presided over a diocesan synod in the cathedral of Volterra on 8–10 May 1590, and had the constitutions of the meeting published. Bishop Orazio degli Albizzi (1655–1676) held a diocesan synod on 2 October 1657, and published  the acts; he held another synod on 11 November 1674. A diocesan synod was held by Bishop Ottavio del Rosso (1681–1714) in the cathedral on 14–15 June 1684, the acts of which were published. He held his second synod in the cathedral of Volterra on 26–27 April 1690; its decrees were published.