Diocese of Locri-Gerace


The Diocese of Locri-Gerace is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Calabria. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria-Bova.
Historically it was the Diocese of Gerace, becoming in 1954 the Diocese of Gerace-Locri and taking the current name in 1986.

History

probably owes its origin, or at least its importance, to the ruin of the town of Epizephyrian Locris, one of the earliest Greek colonies in Lower Italy, founded by the Ozolian Locrians and endowed with a code of laws by Zaleucus. The town was in a favorable position for the exploitation of the rich fields along the coast of the Gulf of Taranto, and sharing in the commerce of the east-west trade route. Locri, however, was a beachfront town, wide-open to attacks by pirates and then by Arabs, Moors, and Saracens. Before its total ruin, Locri Epizephrii had a bishop of its own; but in 709, under Bishop Gregory, the see was transferred to Gerace. Gerace had the advantage of being a fortifiable hilltop, where the population could protect itself from raiders. There was only one bishop and one diocese, however, first called Locri and then called Gerace. These were not two dioceses.
In 731, Gerace and all the towns of Calabria suffered from a major earthquake, which devastated many of the cities of the region. There was another major earthquake in 1783, and one in 1908.
The name Gerace is probably derived from Saint Cyriaca, whose church was destroyed by the Saracens in 915. They captured the town in 986, but in 1059 it fell into the hands of the Normans. The Normans began the turn away from Greek affiliations toward Rome, aided by the policies of Gregory VII and Urban II.
Until 1467 the Greek Rite was in wide use at Gerace, and such had probably been the custom from the beginning. As early as the thirteenth century efforts were made to introduce the Latin Rite, which accounts for the schism between Latins and Greeks about 1250–1253. The latter demanded as bishop the monk Bartenulfo, a Greek, whereas Pope Innocent IV, in 1253, appointed Marco Leone. In 1467, bishop Atanasio Calceofilo introduced the Latin Rite.
In 1749 Gerace was a town whose population was estimated at 3,000. It was divided ecclesiastically into thirteen parishes. There were forty-five ecclesiastical parishes in the diocese. In 1890 the population of the diocese was given as 106,335, and the number of parishes was seventy one; there were 393 priests. The Chapter of the Cathedral had eight dignities and sixteen Canons. Among the dignities were: the Cantor, the Archdeacon, the Archpriest, the Primicerius, the Dean, the Protonotary, the Treasurer, and the Master of Ceremonies The seminary of the diocese was founded by Bishop Candido, in obedience to the decrees of the Council of Trent, and completed by his successor Bishop Pasqua.
The population of the town of Gerace in 2012 was 2,715. The population of the town of Locri was 12,845 in 2010.

Bishops

Diocese of Gerace

Latin Name: Hieracensis
''Erected: 5th Century''

to 1300

*
  • Dulcinus
  • Marcianus
  • Crescens
  • Stephanus
  • Christopher
  • Georgius
  • Leontius
  • Constantinus
  • Leo
  • Nipho
  • Nicolaus
  • Barsanufius, O.S.Basil.
  • Leo
  • Paulus, O.S.Basil.
  • Jacobus
  • Barlaam, O.S.Basil.

    1300 to 1600

  • Barlaam II
  • Simon Atumano
  • Nicolaus Mele
  • Jacobus
  • Angelo del Tufo
  • Paulus
  • Aimericus
  • Gregorius Diositani
  • Athanasius Calceofilo
  • Troilus Carafa
  • Jaime de Conchillos, O. de M.
  • Bandinello Sauli
  • Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de' Medici
  • Alessandro Cesarini
  • Girolamo Planca
  • Alessandro Cesarini
  • Tiberio Muti
  • Giovanni Andrea Candido, O.S.Io.Hieros.
  • Ottaviano Pasqua
  • Vincenzo Bonardo, O.P.

    1600 to 1920

  • Orazio Mattei
  • Alessandro Boschi
  • Stefano de Rosis
  • Giovanni Maria Belletti
  • Lorenzo Tramallo
  • Michele Angelo Vincentini
  • Stefano Sculco
  • Tommaso Caracciolo, O.S.B.
  • Domenico Diez de Aux
  • Ildefonso del Tufo, O.S.B.
  • Domenico Bozzoni
  • Cesare Rossi
  • Pietro Domenico Scoppa
  • Vincenzo Barisani, O.S.A.
  • Giuseppe Maria Pellicano
  • Luigi Maria Perrone, C.O.
  • Pasquale de Lucia
  • Francesco Saverio Mangeruva
  • Giorgio Francesco Delrio

    Diocese of Gerace (-Santa Maria di Polsi)

Latin Name: Hieracensis
Name Changed: 8 April 1920
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria
  • Giovanni Battista Chiappe
  • Pacifico Maria Luigi Perantoni, O.F.M.

    Diocese of Gerace-Locri (-Santa Maria di Polsi)

Latin Name: Hieracensis-Locrensis
Name Changed: 22 February 1954
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria
  • Michele Alberto Arduino, S.D.B.
  • Francesco Tortora, O.M.

    Diocese of Locri-Gerace (-Santa Maria di Polsi)

Latin Name: Dioecesis Locrensis-Hieracensis
Name Changed: 30 September 1986
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria-Bova
  • Antonio Ciliberti
  • Giancarlo Maria Bregantini, C.S.S.
  • Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini, O.M.
  • Francesco Oliva

    Studies

  • Gemelli, S. . La Cattedrale di Gerace. Il monumento, la funzione, I corredi. Carical, Cosenza.
  • Kamp, Norbert. Kirche und Monarchie im staufischen Königreich Sizilien: München: Wilhelm Fink 1975.
  • Kehr, Paulus Fridolin. Italia pontificia. Regesta pontificum Romanorum. . Berlin: Weidmann.
  • Russo, Francesco. Storia della Chiesa in Calabria dalle origini al Concilio di Trento, 2 vols. Rubbetino: Soveria Mannelli 1982.

  • Acknowledgment

Category:Roman Catholic dioceses in Calabria
Category:Dioceses established in the 5th century
Category:Locri