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.Ughelli IX (1723), p. 499: "Menecrades Episcopus Cariaten. interfuit synodo Romanae primae sub Symmacho papa." (498–514) Umberto Benigni (1908), "Cariati (Paternum)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908); retrieved: 16 September 2022. The list of bishops attending tha first Roman synod, however, contains neither the name Menecrades nor the diocese Cariatensis.J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus VIII (Florence: A. Zatta 1762), pp. 233-237. Neither name nor diocese appears in the subscription list of the third Roman synod, held in October 501;Mansi, pp. 251-253. or in the fourth, held in November.Mansi, pp. 268-269. At the fifth synod, held in 503, with 218 bishops in attendance, many of them from the Greek east,C.J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church Vol. IV (Edinburgh: Clark 1895), pp. 71-72. 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.Mansi, p. 299.
Pope Gregory I, it is claimed, mentioned Cariati in a letter to the Bishop of Reggio.Ughelli IX, p. 499. Umberto Benigni (1908), "Cariati (Paternum)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908); retrieved: 16 September 2022. In 595, Pope Gregory I wrote to Bishop Boniface of Reggio Calabria, ordering him to hasten to fill the vacancy in the diocese of "Carinensis". This is the diocese of Carini, a suffragan of Reggio, not Cariati.Taccone-Gallucci, Regesti dei Romani pontifici di Calabria pp. 24, 307.
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).Kehr X, p. 126: "Intra fines dioecesis S. Severinae in loco q. d. Altilia Polychronius ep. Gerentinus consilio Constantini archiep. reaedificavit monasterium Calabromariae, quod a. 1099 mai. 31 a Rogerio duce Apuliae, a. 1100 iun. 1 a Rogerio I comite Calabriae et Siciliae, a. 1144 oct. 18 a Rogerio II rege privilegia graeco scripta sermone accepit (Ughelli *IX 672sq.; 2IX 476sq.; Caspar Roger II p. 479 et Reg. n. 172)."
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.Gams, p. 869, column 1. Tommaso Morelli, "Cenno storico sopra S. Giovanni in Fiore in provincia di Calabria citra," in: Cenni storici intorno alle colonie greco-calabre, (Napoli: Guttemberg 1847), p. 82. Kehr X, pp. 116-117.
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.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 365: "Egli costitui il Vescovato di Cariati, dismembrandolo dall'archidiocesi di Rossano; e lo uni al Vescovato di Gerenzia, con Bolla del 1445, di cui si è disperso l'originale nell' Archivio Vaticano ...." The cathedral of Cariati is dedicated to S. Michele Archangelo; and the cathedral of Cerenza to S. Theodore.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 379-380.
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).G.A. Tria, Prima dioecesana synodus cariatensis, et gerontinensis, quam Jo: Andreas Tria episcopus Gerontinensis & Cariatensis habuit. (Cariati? 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,F. Artaud de Montor, Histoire du Pape Pie VII Vol. II, second edition (Paris: Adrien Leclerc 1837), pp. 132-140. 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."R.M. Johnston (1909), The Napoleonic Kingdom in Southern Italy and the Rise of the Secret Societies, Volume I (London: Macmillan), pp. 149. 161-162. Taccone-Gallucci, pp. 395-396.
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.F. Artaud de Montor, Histoire du Pape Pie VII Vol. II, second edition (Paris: Adrien Leclerc 1837), pp. 507-509. 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.Vito Giliberti (1845), Polizia ecclesiastica del regno delle due Sicilie , (Napoli: F. Azzolini), pp. 399-400.
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.F. Torelli (1848), La chiave del concordato dell'anno 1818 I, second edition (Naples: Fibreno 1848), pp. 1-19. 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).Torelli I, p. 9. 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.Bulliarii Romani Continuatio Tomus 25 (Rome 1853), p. 58, § 18: "Archiepiscopalis ecclesia Sanctae Severinae unicam tantum habebit suffraganeam episcopalem ecclesiam Cariatensem." 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 Cariati.Bulliarii Romani Continuatio Tomus 25 (Rome 1853), p. 58, § 18: "...itemque praevia suppressione ecclesiarum tam Geruntinae usque ad praesens antedictae Cariatensi aeque principaliter unitae." 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.Bulliarii Romani Continuatio Tomus 25 (Rome 1853), p. 58, § 18: "...Strongulensis, et Umbriaticensis earumdem trium ecclesiarum respectivam civitatem ac dioecesim supradictae episcopali ecclesiae Cariatensi integre perpetuo adnectimus, atque incorporamus."
Bishop Niccola Golia (1839–1873) attended the First Vatican Council in 1869–1870.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 398, who notes that the archbishopric of Santa Severina was without an archbishop at the time.
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.In its decree Christus Dominus, section 22, it stated: "Concerning diocesan boundaries, therefore, this sacred synod decrees that, to the extent required by the good of souls, a fitting revision of diocesan boundaries be undertaken prudently and as soon as possible. This can be done by dividing dismembering or uniting them, or by changing their boundaries, or by determining a better place for the episcopal see or, finally, especially in the case of dioceses having larger cities, by providing them with a new internal organization.... At the same time the natural population units of people, together with the civil jurisdictions and social institutions that compose their organic structure, should be preserved as far as possible as units. For this reason, obviously, the territory of each diocese should be continuous."
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 principaliterThere would be one and the same bishop for each of the two dioceses. to the archdiocese of Rossano, as Rossano e Cariati.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 71 (Città del Vaticano 1979), pp. 560-561: "item dioecesim Cariatensem, distractis territoriis quae supra diximus, archidioecesi Rossanensi aeque principaliter in perpetuum unimus. Consentinus igitur Archiepiscopus, Bisinianensis etiam Episcopus appellabitur, Rossanensis etiam Cariatensis."
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.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 775-777: "Dioecesis nova hac structura praedita sedem habebit in urbe vulgo nuncupata «Rossano Calabro», ubi hodierna Ecclesia Cathedralis proprium hunc titulum servat, et suffraganea erit Ecclesiae Metropolitanae Rheginensis-Bovensis."