Roman Catholic Diocese of Cariati

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.

[1] The list of bishops attending tha first Roman synod, however, contains neither the name Menecrades nor the diocese Cariatensis.

[7] In 595, Pope Gregory I wrote to Bishop Boniface of Reggio Calabria, ordering him to hasten to fill the vacaancy in the diocese of "Carinensis".

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).

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 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).

The diocese of Belcastro was suppressed completely, and its territory incorporated into the archdiocese of Santa Severina.

[24] 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.

[25] 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.

[28] This situation changed again in 2001, when Pope John Paul II further reformed the diocesan structure of Calabria.