The territory of Squillace contains
Stilo, the ancient Consilinum, three bishops of which are known, Sabinus (495) being the earliest. The creation of a diocese at Stilo in the 11th century is a matter of controversy. The first known Bishop of Squillace is Gaudentius (465), who attended the Roman council of
Pope Hilarius on 18 November 465. 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. 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).
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. Bishop Demetrius of Squillace attended the
Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869–870. The
Diatyposis of Leo the Wise (c. 900) registers Squillace as a suffragan of the metropolitan of Reggio. 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. 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. Joannes de Nicephoro (1096–1098) was the first
Latin Church bishop of Squillace. 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. Bishop Theodorus of Squillace participated in the consecration of S. Maria on 15 August 1094. The monastery of S. Maria was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1783. 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. Pope Paschal also granted the privilege that bishop Petrus and all his successors would be consecrated by the pope personally; this was one of the privileges granted by
Pope Gregory I to Bishop Joannes in 592. 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. The
Liber censuum of Cencius Camerarius (1192) also lists the diocese of Squillace as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Reggio. In his bull "De Utiliori" of 27 June 1818, 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. Invasions of Saracens in the ninth and tenth centuries, a landing of the Turks in 1595, and the
earthquake of 1783 caused the ruin of
Squillace. The cathedral had to be rebuilt.
Diocesan Reorganization Following the
Second Vatican Council, and in accordance with the norms laid out in the council's decree,
Christus Dominus chapter 40, 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. ==Bishops of Squillace==