The first documented bishop of Cattaro was Paulus, who participated in the
Council of Chalcedon in 451. The next mention of the Diocese of Cattaro was 530, when it is mentioned as a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Salona (Solin). The late Antiquity era, relatively the early Christian origin of the bishopric of Cattaro, is testified by an early Christian baptistery from the late 5th or early 6th centuries, discovered in an archeological examination of the Church of Saint Maria of Rijeka (Crkva sv. Marije od Rijeke) following the 1979 earthquake where the probable foundations of the first cathedral in Cattaro was discovered with remains, such as the
cathedra and
ciborium from the 6th century. John, a bishop of Cattaro, was certainly mentioned in the acts of the
Second Council of Nicaea in 787. John was also mentioned in 809 in epigraphical inscriptions found in Cattaro. Bishops of Cattaro were mentioned in
Ecclesiastical Assembly of
Spalatum in 925 and 928, during the reign of King
Tomislav. Only a fragmental list of the bishops before the 11th century were preserved. Afterward, since 1090 till the present day, a complete list has existed, beginning with bishop Grimoald, of
Lombard origin. A
Pontifical and
Lectionary of the Bishopric is kept in
Saint Petersburg. This artifact testifies that Cattaro remained under the jurisdiction of the Western Church following the
Great Schism of 1054. In 1025,
Pope John XIX issued a
papal bull in which Cattaro became a suffragan of the
Diocese of Canusium (
Canosa). In 1063,
Pope Alexander II issued a
papal bull in which Cattaro is also mentioned as a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Barium (
Bari), previously known as the Diocese of Canusium. In 1067, the diocese became subjected to the
Archdiocese of Dioclea-Antivari. Then, in 1078, the diocese became subjected to the
Archdiocese of Ragusa (
Dubrovnik), only to be returned under the control of Antivari in 1089. In 1120, the diocese of Cattaro was returned under the control of Dubrovnik. Around 1185, Kotor and his Diocese became a integral part of the
Mediaeval Kingdom of Serbia ruled by
Serbian Royal Family Stefan Nemanjić, and from then on the importance of the Kotor Diocese began to grow. Between 1172 and 1828, the diocese was under the control of the Archdiocese of Barium. From 1828 to 1932, the diocese became a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Zadar. From 1932 to 1969, it became directly subjected to the
Holy See. However, from 1969, the diocese of Cattaro has been a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Split-Makarska. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the borders of the diocese reached the
Danube. Under the diocesan jurisdiction were:
Prizren,
Janjevo,
Novo Brdo,
Novi Pazar,
Brskovo,
Golubac,
Brvenik,
Plana,
Mačva,
Trepča,
Trgovište and
Belgrade. In the 16th century, Tripo Bisanti, Bishop of Cattaro, signed himself as the Bishop of Serbia ("
Totius Serviae"). In 1880, the parishes of
Spič,
Šušanj and
Brca, which had originally belonged to the Archdiocese of Antivari, was transferred to the Diocese of Cattaro by the decision of the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. The first patron of the diocese was
Saint George, who was later replaced by
Saint Tryphon, whose relics were brought to Cattaro on 13 January 809. A
church dedicated to Saint Tryphon was built in the early 9th century by Andrea Saracenis, a citizen of Cattaro. ==Geography==