The Italian Catholic diocese of Cariati, in Calabria, existed until 1979. In that year it was united into the archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati. The diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Santa Severina, and then of the archdiocese of Reggio Calabria. In 2001, it became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano.

History

It has been claimed that the first bishop of Cariati mentioned in history is Menecrates, who was present at the Synod of Rome in 499. The list of bishops attending tha first Roman synod, however, contains neither the name Menecrades nor the diocese Cariatensis. Neither name nor diocese appears in the subscription list of the third Roman synod, held in October 501; or in the fourth, held in November. At the fifth synod, held in 503, with 218 bishops in attendance, many of them from the Greek east, the name "Menecrates Caryssensis" does appear. He subscribes after the bishops of Tripolis and Gabala, and immediately before the bishop of Sardis. It is more likely that he is the bishop of the well-known Carystus, than that he is the bishop of a putative Cariati. Pope Gregory I, it is claimed, mentioned Cariati in a letter to the Bishop of Reggio. In 595, Pope Gregory I wrote to Bishop Boniface of Reggio Calabria, ordering him to hasten to fill the vacaancy in the diocese of "Carinensis". This is the diocese of Carini, a suffragan of Reggio, not Cariati. According to some, during the eleventh or twelfth century the diocese of Cerenza (Geruntia, Gerenza) was united to Cariati, though it is only in 1342 that mention is made of a Bishop of Cariati and Cerenza. The bishop of Cerenza, Polychronius, with the cooperation of Archbishop Constantine of Santa Severina, rebuilt the monastery of S. Maria in Altilia, which was endowed by Duke Roger of Apulia (1099). Among the bishops of Cerenza was the Cistercian Matteo (attested as bishop in 1234), who was the first successor of Joachim da Fiore as Abbot of San Giovanni di Fiore, in 1202.

Foundation

The diocese of Cariati was canonically erected by Pope Eugenius IV in 1445, and immediately united aeque principaliter with the diocese of Cerenza. Its territory had formerly belonged to the archdiocese of Rossano. The cathedral of Cariati is dedicated to S. Michele Archangelo; and the cathedral of Cerenza to S. Theodore. A diocesan synod of the diocese of Cariati e Cerenza was held in Cariati on 16–18 March 1726, by Bishop Giovanni Andrea Tria (1720–1726).

The Napoleonic disruption and restoration

From 1802 to 1818 the see of Cerenza e Cariati remained vacant. From 1806–1808, Naples was occupied by the French, and Joseph Bonaparte was made king, after Napoleon had deposed King Ferdinand IV. Joseph Bonaparte was succeeded by Joachim Murat from 1808 until the fall of Napoleon in 1815. Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon in France from 1809 to 1815, and was both unable and unwilling to make new episcopal appointments. The French expelled all monks, nuns, and Jesuits from the kingdom, and closed the monasteries and convents; colleges of canons were also closed. Their assets were seized, to be used for "the benefit of the people." Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the Kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and King Ferdinand IV reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand, however, was not prepared to accept the pre-Napoleonic situation, in which Naples was a feudal subject of the papacy. Neither was he prepared to accept the large number of small dioceses in his kingdom; following French intentions, he demanded the suppression of fifty dioceses. Lengthy, detailed, and acrimonious negotiations ensued. On 17 July 1816, King Ferdinand issued a decree, in which he forbade the reception of any papal document without prior reception of the royal exequatur. This meant that prelates could not receive bulls of appointment, consecration, or installation without the king's permission. A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818. The re-erection of the dioceses of the kingdom and the ecclesiastical provinces took more than three years. The right of the king to nominate the candidate for a vacant bishopric was recognized, as in the Concordat of 1741, subject to papal confirmation (preconisation). On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore, in which he reestablished the metropolitan archbishopric of Santa Severina, but with only one suffragan diocese, the diocese of Cariati. The diocese of Belcastro was suppressed completely, and its territory incorporated into the archdiocese of Santa Severina. The diocese of Cerenza, which had been united with the diocese of Cariati aeque principaliter, was suppressed and its territory completely incorporated into the diocese of Cerenza. In addition, the dioceses of Strongoli and Umbriatico, which also had been united aeque principaliter, were both suppressed, and their territories permanently incorporated into the diocese of Cariati. Bishop Niccola Golia (1839–1873) attended the First Vatican Council in 1869–1870.

Diocesan reorganization

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses. It also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures. On 4 April 1979, Pope John Paul II carried out a major reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces of Campania and Calabria. The towns of Belvedere di Spinello, Caccuri, Carfizzi, Casabona, Castelsilano, Cerenzia, Ciro, Ciro Marina, Crucoli, Melissa, Pallagorio, S. Nicola dell'Alto, Savelli, Strongoli, Umbriatico, and Verzino were removed from the diocese of Cariati and assigned to the diocese of Croton. With its sixteen towns removed, the diocese of Cariati was permanently united aeque principaliter to the archdiocese of Rossano, as Rossano e Cariati. On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Rossano e Cariati be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Archidioecesis Rossanensis-Cariatensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Rossano, and the cathedral of Rossano was to serve as the cathedral of the merged dioceses. The cathedral in Cariati was to become a co-cathedral, and the cathedral Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Rossano, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the former dioceses of Rossano and Cariati. However, the united diocese was now made a suffragan of the metropolitan archdiocese of Reggio-Bova. This situation changed again in 2001, when Pope John Paul II further reformed the diocesan structure of Calabria. On 30 January 2001, he ordered that the metropolitan status of the archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano be restored, and that it be assigned as suffragans the dioceses of Rossano-Cariata and Cassano, which were removed from the jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Reggio Calabria. It is now the Arcidiocesi di Rossano-Cariati.

Bishops of Cariati e Cerenzia

United: 1445 with the Diocese of Cerenzia Latin Name: Cariatensis et Geruntina Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Santa Severina

Bishops of Cariati

Reorganization: 1818 Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Santa Severina

Reference works for bishops

Studies