The Diocese of Squillace (Lat.: Scyllatium) was a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Calabria, Italy. The diocese was established in the 5th century,Lucà, p. 253. and suppressed in 1986. In that year, it was combined into the Archdiocese of Catanzaro-Squillace. It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Reggio in Calabria."Diocese of Squillace" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Diocese of Squillace" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016

History

The territory of Squillace contains Stilo, the ancient Consilinum, three bishops of which are known, Sabinus (495) being the earliest.Lanzoni, p. 324. Taccone-Gallucci, p. 325, doubts that Stilo ever was a bishopric. The creation of a diocese at Stilo in the 11th century is a matter of controversy.Lucà, pp. 274-275, with notes 160 and 161.

The first known Bishop of Squillace is Gaudentius (465), who attended the Roman council of Pope Hilarius on 18 November 465.J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus septimus (Florence: A. Zatta 1762), p. 959. His two immediate successors, whose names are not preserved, were both murdered by priests of Squillace; the archdeacon Asello was deposed from his office for his part in the crimes.Duchesne (1902), pp. 2-3. Kehr X, pp. 57-58, nos. 1-3. Lanzoni, pp. 340-341. Bishop Zachæus accompanied Pope Vigilius to Constantinople (551). Joannes, previously Bishop of Lissa in Dalmatia, having been driven out by the barbarians, was transferred to Squillace by Gregory the Great (591).Lanzoni, p. 341.

Greek occupation In 732, following the condemnation of Iconoclasm by both Pope Gregory II and Pope Gregory III, the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian launched a punitive campaign against the papacy and its supporters. Among other territories, he conquered a third of the island of Sicily and all of Calabria, including Squillace. In 740, he declared that all of his conquered territories were subject to the Patriarch of Constantinople, and were obligated to adopt the Greek liturgical rite. Squillace was declared a suffragan of Reggio.Cappelletti XXI, p. 229. Taccone-Galucci, p. 316. G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, (New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers 1957), p. 146. B.M. Kreutz, Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth & Tenth Centuries, (Philadelphia: U Penn 1999), pp. 11, 125-127.

Bishop Demetrius of Squillace attended the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869–870.J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 16 (Venice: A. Zatta 1771), p. 195. The Diatyposis of Leo the Wise (c. 900) registers Squillace as a suffragan of the metropolitan of Reggio.Duchesne (1902), pp. 9-10.

After Bishop Demetrius, no bishops are mentioned until the Norman conquest.

The Norman church

Both Reggio and Squillace were conquered by the Normans in 1060.Lucà, p. 270.

In 1096, Count Roger I of Sicily, with the advice and consent of numerous bishops in his domain, erected the cathedral, into which the Roman Rite was introduced, though the use of the Byzantine Rite continued much longer in the diocese. The cathedral was administered and served by a corporation called the Chapter, which was composed of five dignities (the Dean, the Cantor, the Archdeacon, the Treasurer and the Archpriest) and fifteen canons.Ughelli IX, p. 423. Joannes de Nicephoro (1096–1098) was the first Latin Church bishop of Squillace.Ughelli IX, pp. 426-427.

Between 1091 and 1101, St. Bruno established two Carthusian monasteries within the limits of the diocese, S. Maria dell' Eremo and S. Stefano in Nemore, the latter having the less rigorous discipline.Kehr X, pp. 63-75. Bishop Theodorus of Squillace participated in the consecration of S. Maria on 15 August 1094.Ughelli IX, p. 425. Kehr X, p. 55. The monastery of S. Maria was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1783.Kehr X, p. 66: "A. 1783 in terribili terrae motu, qui totam Calabriam concussit, aedificia penitus destructa sunt. 1807 domus etiam suppressa est."

On 5 April 1110, Pope Paschal II confirmed the privileges and property of the diocese of Squillace, just as Pope Urban II had done in 1096, recollecting the favor of Pope Gregory which Squillace had enjoyed.Kehr X, pp. 59-60, nos. 8 and 11 (and see also p. 56): "...confovet Squillacinam ecclesiam prioribus longe temporibus specialiter sub apost. sedis iure manentem, sicut per authentica b. Gregorii scripta monstratur, sub speciali iure s. sedis apost...." Pope Paschal also granted the privilege that bishop Petrus and all his successors would be consecrated by the pope personally;Taccone-Gallucci, p. 55, prints the entire bull: "Nos Praedecessoris nostri Urbani Papae II vestigiis insistentes, Squillacensem Ecclesiam su bspeciali iure Sanctae Sedis Apostolicae confoventes, statuimus et temporibus perpetuis observandum cencemus, ut sicut Tu ita et tui deinceps Successores per manum semper Romanorum Pontificum consecrentur." this was one of the privileges granted by Pope Gregory I to Bishop Joannes in 592.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 20. Squillace was confirmed as being directly subordinate to the papacy.

When Pope Alexander III confirmed the privileges and possessions of the archdiocese of Reggio on 19 November 1165, the diocese of Squillace was included among its suffragans.Taccone-Gallucci, Regesti, pp. 326; 72-74: "Praeterea ipsum Rhegiensem Archiepiscopatum, cum onmnibus suis Episcopatibus, videlicet Tropaeano, Neocastrensi, Sillano, Cassanensi, Bovensi, Geratino, Opensi et Crotonensi, atque cum adiacentibus parochiis suis, tibi tuisque successoribus confirmamus." The Liber censuum of Cencius Camerarius (1192) also lists the diocese of Squillace as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Reggio.Duchesne (1902), p. 14.

In his bull "De Utiliori" of 27 June 1818,Bullarii Romani Continuatio, , Tomus decimus quintus (Vol. 15) (Rome 1853), pp. 56-61, at p. 58 § 19. which reorganized the diocesan structure of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in consequence of the new Concordat of February 16, 1818, Pope Pius VII included Squillace among the suffragans of the metropolitan archdiocese of Reggio.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 396: "Ecclesia Archiepiscopalis Rheginensis suffraganeas habebit Episcopales Ecclesias Hieracensem, Bovensem, Oppidensem, Cathacensem, Cotronensem, Tropiensem, Nicoterensem, Squillacensem, Neocastrensem et Cassanensem."

Invasions of Saracens in the ninth and tenth centuries, a landing of the Turks in 1595, and the earthquake of 1783In the quake of 1783, Squillace reported 15 deaths, and 80 casualties. Mario Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia (Torino 1901), pp. 268-292, esp. 287. caused the ruin of Squillace. The cathedral had to be rebuilt.Maria Stella Ciaccio, La diocesi di Squillace dopo il terremoto del 1783: tesi di laurea, Viterbo: Università degli studi della Tuscia, 2006.

Diocesan Reorganization

Following the Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree, Christus Dominus chapter 40,Christus Dominus 40. Therefore, in order to accomplish these aims this sacred synod decrees as follows: 1) The boundaries of ecclesiastical provinces are to be submitted to an early review and the rights and privileges of metropolitans are to be defined by new and suitable norms. 2) As a general rule all dioceses and other territorial divisions that are by law equivalent to dioceses should be attached to an ecclesiastical province. Therefore dioceses which are now directly subject to the Apostolic See and which are not united to any other are either to be brought together to form a new ecclesiastical province, if that be possible, or else attached to that province which is nearer or more convenient. They are to be made subject to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the bishop, in keeping with the norms of the common law. 3) Wherever advantageous, ecclesiastical provinces should be grouped into ecclesiastical regions for the structure of which juridical provision is to be made. a revision of ecclesiastical provinces and diocesan structures was advised. The Council also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures. Pope Paul VI ordered a reorganization of the ecclesiastical provinces in southern Italy, beginning with consultations among the members of the Congregation of Bishops in the Vatican Curia, the Italian Bishops Conference, and the various dioceses concerned.

On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. The Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese.

On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the Diocese of Squillace be merged with the Diocese of Catanzaro into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Archidioecesis Catacensis-Squillacensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Catanzaro. The cathedral in Squillace was to have the honorary title of "co-cathedral"; its Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Catanzaro, 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 suppressed diocese of Squillace. The archdiocese of Catanzaro-Squillace was the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Catanzaro-Squillace.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 679-681.

Bishops of Squillace Erected: 5th Century 5th Century to 1200

... Gaudentius (attested 465) [Anonymous] (before 496)Lanzoni, pp. 340-341. [Anonymous] (before 496)Cappelletti XXI, p. 229. ... Zacchaeus (attested 551–553)Bishop Zacchaeus of Squillace was part of the suite of thirteen bishops who accompanied Pope Vigilius to Constantinople in 550, and subscribed the excommunication and deposition of Theodorus, Bishop of Caesarea Cappadociae, on 14 August 551. Cappelletti XXI, p. 229. Philippus Jaffe, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, , editio altera Tomus I (Leipzig: Veit 1885), pp. 122-123. Lanzoni, p. 341. ... Augustinus (attested 649)Bishop Augustinus was present at the Roman council of Pope Martin I in October 649. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 10 (Florence: A. Zatta 1764), p. 867. Taccone-Gallucci, pp. 313-314. ... Paulus (attested 680)Bishop Paulus was one of 125 bishops who attended the Roman synod of Pope Agatho against Monotheletism, on 27 March 680, and subscribed the synodical letter which was sent by the pope to the Third Council of Constantinople, which met in 680 and 681. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 11 (Florence: A. Zatta 1765), p. 302. Taccone-Gallucci, p. 314. ... Demetrius (attested 870)Bishop Demetrius of Squillace attended the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 870. J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus 16 (Venice: A. Zatta 1771), p. 195. Taccone-Galucci, p. 419. Lucà, p. 254. ... Theodorus Mesimericus (attested 1091–1096)Theodorus is mentioned several times in the "Acta Sancti Brunonis", J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CLII (Paris: Migne 1853), pp. 342-347; and a document is quoted: "Theodorus Mesimerius Dei misericordia episcopus Castrorum, Scyllacei, Stili et Tabernæ, ac protosyncellus". "Protosyncellus" is an imperial Byzantine title: Lucà, p. 257. ...