The Archdiocese of Catania () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Sicily, southern Italy, with its seat in Catania. It was elevated to an archdiocese in 1859, and became a metropolitan see in 2000. Its suffragans are the diocese of Acireale and the diocese of Caltagirone."Archdiocese of Catania" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Catania" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
Historical notes According to legend, Christianity was first preached in Catania by St. Beryllus.Beryllus is known from the Martyrologium Romanum, a liturgical calendar used by the diocese of Rome. Pirro, pp. 514–515 (who lists numbers of authorities, beginning with Cardinal Baronius, who followed that source). The accumulation of followers does not increase the authority of the source. Lanzoni, p. 621, notes that he is called "archbishop in some sources. During the persecution of Decius the virgin St. Agatha suffered martyrdom.Agatha is known from the Passio S. Agathae, a hagiographical work written between the second half of the fifth century and before the eighth century. She was not, of course, a cleric. Pirro, pp. 515–516. Lanzoni, pp. 626-627. At the same period or a little later the Bishop of Catania was Everus, who is mentioned in the acts of the martyrs of Leontini (303).Everus was said to have served in the time of Valerianus and Gallienus (250s AD). Pirro, p. 516. The Deacon Euplius and others were martyred in the same year.Pirro, p. 516, column 2.
Earliest bishops It is said that a Domninus (or Domnicius) was Bishop of Catania and was present at the Council of Ephesus (431); the Acts of the council, however, show that he was bishop of Coliaeum (Cotyaeum, Cotyaion) in Phrygia, not bishop of Catania.J.-D. Mansi (ed.) Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus V (Florence 1761), pp. 1223 and 1364. Lanzoni, p. 629. Lanzoni points out that the only western prelates at the Council of Ephesus were the representatives of Pope Leo I.
A genuine bishop of Catania, Fortunatus, was twice sent (514, 516) with Bishop Ennodius of Pavia by Pope Hormisdas to Emperor Anastasius I to effect the union of the Eastern Churches with Rome. Bishop Leo appears in the correspondence of Pope Gregory I (590–604). In 730 Bishop James suffered martyrdom for his defence of images. In 750, Sabino was Bishop of Catania.Gaetani, Vol. II, p. 3. Canon Gaetano Lombardo, in: D'Avino, p. 174, column 2. His successor, Leo (II) of Catania, was known as a wonder-worker (thaumaturgus).
In the 8th century, The Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) removed all the dioceses of Sicily from papal control, and made them suffragans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the Descriptio orbis Romani of George of Cyprus, Catania is listed as a suffragan of Syracuse, the only metropolitan in Sicily.H. Gelzer, Georgius Cyprius (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner 1890), p. 30. George's text was revised in the mid-9th century.
Bishop Euthymius was at first an adherent of the Patriarch Photius, but in the Eighth General Council approved the restoration of Ignatius as patriarch. John of Ajello, who died in the 1169 Sicily earthquake, won a contested episcopal election against William of Blois in 1167.
Under the Arabs and the Normans From c. 827 to 1071 Catania was subject to the Arab (Saracen) occupation of the island of Sicily.Pirro, p. 520. In late summer 1071, Robert Guiscard and Roger d'Hauteville captured Catania.Gordon S. Brown, The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily (McFarland 2003), pp. 132-134. The Norman conquest of Sicily under the auspicies of the Papacy meant that the revival of Christianity was tied to the Latin rite, and, without a Greek metropolitan on the island, newly appointed bishops looked to Rome for validation and consecration. It was not until 1130 that a Latin metropolitan was appointed in Palermo, and 1131 in Messina. On 27 September 1130, Pope Anacletus II, at the request of King Roger II, granted the archbishop of Palermo the right to consecrate the bishops of Syracuse, Agrigento, and Catania.Kehr, p. 291, no. 21. South Italy and Sicily were following the Obedience of Anacletus II; the German emperor followed the Obedience of Innocent II. When Messina was named an archdiocese, again at the request of King Roger II, Catania, Lipari and Caphalonia were appointed suffragans of Messina.Kehr, p. 291, no. 22. Cf. Donald Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge: CUP 1992), p. 192.
On 9 March 1092 (1091 old style), Pope Urban II granted the privilege to Abbot-Bishop Ansger of Catania that whowever was elected abbot of the monastery of Saint Agatha would also be bishop of Catania.Kehr, p. 290, no. 19.
A mahor earthquake struck eastern Sicily on 4 February 1169, followed by the collapse of the cone of the Mount Etna volcano. Catania was completely destroyed, with a loss of life of some 15,000 persons, including the Bishop of Catania, Ioannes de Agello.Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily, p. 121.
Pope Lucius III elevated the diocese of Monreale to the rank of metropolitan archbishop on 5 February 1183, in the bull "Licet Dominus Jesus."Bullarum Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum. Taurinensis editio, Vol. 3 (Turin: Franco, Fory & Dalmazzo 1858), pp. 10-14. The dioceses of Catania"Licet Dominus Jesus", p. 12, § 4. and Syracuse were made suffragans.Cappelletti, p. 590. His date is incorrect, as the bull itself shows. Catania was deprived of the right to the pallium.Kehr, p. 284, 293.
On 7 July 1274 Pope Gregory X wrote to the Bishop of Syracuse that he had received information that the Bishop of Catania (Angelo Boccamazza), along with his cousin Bartolomeo Romano and two nephews, had attacked a Franciscan convent at Castro Orsino and destroyed its buildings; the Bishop of Syracuse was ordered to investigate, and if the charges were true, he was to excommunicate the offending parties. J.H. Sbaralea (ed.), Bullarium Franciscanum III (Rome 1765), p. 214, no. XLI.
In 1409 a severe earthquake reduced the monastery of San Niccolò l'Arena to ruins.Baratta, p. 61.
Volcano and earthquakes
On 11 March 1669 a major fissure opened up on the southeast side of Mt. Etna, some ten miles from Catania, and sent lava in the direction of the city. The stream passed along the walls of the city and reached the sea, but at the beginning of May fresh supplies of lava overtopped the walls of Catania and destroyed the monastery of the Benedictines. The vineyards of the Jesuits, who staffed a college in Catania, were also destroyed. By mid-May three quarters of Catania was surrounded by lava, and several streams entered the city. Fourteen towns and villages between the volcano and Catania were obliterated, leaving only the tower of a ruined church visible. Davis, p. 396.
On 9 January 1693 a major earthquake destroyed the city of Catania and killed eighteen thousand people.Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia, pp. 165–173. It was estimated that in 1687 the city of Catania contained about 20,000 inhabitants. Ritzler-Sefrin, V, p. 150 note 1. Only a part of the cathedral and one house survived. Another earthquake struck the ruins of Catania at the end of September 1693.Mallet and Mallet, p. 101.
From 1679 to 1818, the bishop of Catania was the Great Chancellor of the University of Catania. The University had been founded in 1444 by King Alfonso I of Sicily, and was under the administration of the Senate of Catania,i.e. the city council. with the supervision of the Viceroy of Sicily. In 1556 the Jesuits established a secondary school ('college') in Catania.
In 1859 the diocese of Catania was made an archiepiscopal see, immediately subject to the Holy See.UGo Benigni (1908), "Catania (Catanensis)" The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908, retrieved: 2017-3-30, wrongly states that the date was 1860.
Canons and cathedral
Bishop Bellomi (1450–1472) petitioned Pope Nicholas V that the Cathedral Chapter of Catania should include the dignities of the Archdeacon, Prior, Cantor, the Dean, and the Treasurer. Papal permission was granted on 12 June 1453.Pirro, p. 541, column 1. There were twelve primary Canons and twelve secondary Canons.Lombardo, in: D'Avino, p. 182 column 2. Pope Pius V (1566–1572) abolished the dignity of Archdeacon. Originally the Canons were all members of a monastic community and followed the Rule of St. Benedict (hence the office of Prior),Pirro, pp. 571–573. but Bishop Vincenzo Cutelli (1577-1589) obtained permission from Pope Gregory XIII on 9 February 1578 to convert the Chapter into a corporation of secular priests.Pirro, p. 566. Bishop Ottavio Branciforte (1638-1646) revived the dignity of Archdeacon in April 1639, and appointed his brother Luigi Branciforte, Doctor in utroque iure (Civil and Canon Law) to the dignity.Pirro, p. 560, column 2.
Minor basilicas
On 14 July 1926, the cathedral of Saint Agatha, which was about to celebrate the eighth centenary of the return of the remains of Saint Agatha from Constantinople,Letter of Pius XI to Cardinal Alessandro Lualdi, Archbishop of Palermo, 27 July 1926: "Insignis admodum": Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 18 (Città del Vaticano 1926), pp. 341-342. was granted the title and honors of a minor basilica.Gregory Chow, GCatholic, "Basilica Cattedrale di Sant’Agata;" retrieved: 13 October 2025.
In observance of the 5th centenary of the establishment at the church of Santa Maria dell'Elemosina in Catania as a collegiate church, and to promote the cult of the Virgin Mary, on 31 March 1946 Pope Pius XII granted the collegiate church the title and honors of a minor basilica.Apostolic brief "Quinto iam Exeunte": Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 39 (Città del Vaticano 1947), pp. 340-341.
The church of Santa Maria dell'Elemosina in the town of Biancavilla (diocese of Catania) was granted the title and honors of a minor basilica on 14 March 1970 by Pope Paul VI.Apostolic Brief "In Sanctissimam": Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 63 (Città del Vaticano 1971), p. 206.
At the request of Archbishop Domenico Picchinenna (1974–1988), Pope John Paul II granted the title and honors of a minor basilica to the church of Maria Santissima Annunziata al Carmine in Catania on 7 November 1987.Apostolic Brief "Quo quidem": Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 1448-1449.
On 16 April 1996, at the petition of Archbishop Luigi Bommarito (1988–2002), Pope John Paul II granted the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Pedara (diocese of Catania) the title and honors of a minor basilica.Apostolic Brief "Iam a Primordiis": Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 88 (Città del Vaticano 1996), pp. 694-695.
Diocesan reorganization On 4 September 1859, the diocese of Catania was elevated to the status of an archdiocese by Pope Pius IX. Bishop Felice Regano (1839–1861) was granted the pallium in the papal consistory of 26 September 1859.Gaetano Moroni (ed.), Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol. 95 (Venice: Emiliana 1859), p. 240, col. 1. It had no suffragans, but its archbishop took precedence over bishops in assmblies of prelates.