The Diocese of Cassano all'Jonio () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in the civil province of Cosenza in the area of Calabria. It is about 14km, 3.5 hours' walking distance, to the west of Sibari, facing the Ionian Sea."Diocese of Cassano all’Jonio" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 31, 2016"Diocese of Cassano all'Jonio" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved July 31, 2016Umberto Benigni, in:
History
A traditional story, intended to connect the Church of Cassano with the apostolic generation, points out that Paul the Apostle (Saul of Tarsus) stopped at Malta, Syracuse, and Reggio Calabria ("Acts of the Apostles," ch. 28), on his way to be araigned for trial in Rome. His travelling companion, Stephen of Nicaea (died 74), was appointed the first bishop of Reggio and commissioned to spread the Christian faith in Calabria. It was presumed that Paul left the same orders as he had given to Titus when he left him in Crete (Paul, "Epistle to Titus" 1:5" Τούτου χάριν κατέλιπόν σε ἐν Κρήτῃ, ἵνα τὰ λείποντα ἐπιδιορθώσῃ καὶ καταστήσῃς κατὰ πόλιν πρεσβυτέρους, ὡς ἐγώ σοι διεταξάμην."), commissioning him to appoint presbyters, which is taken to mean bishops.Canon Antonio Minervini, in: D'Avino, pp. 149-150: "...rimaneva a quelli la facoltà di crear nuovi vescovi in majoribus oppidis."
It is not known when Cassano became an episcopal See. Some place the establishment in the 5th century, though without supporting evidence.
In 859 Cassano and Cosenza were the headquarters of the Gastaldates of the Lombards of the Duchy of Benevento. In their turn the Lombards were attacked again and again, as were the Greeks in south Italy, by the Saracens (Arabs and Moors). The Greeks were able to drive the Saracens away, and reorganized Calabria as part of the Greek Empire and the Greek Church of Constantinople. Cassano was established around this time as a suffragan diocese of the Greek Metropolitan of Reggio Calabria.Duchesne, p. 11, p. 15. Canon Antonio Minervini, in: D'Avino, p. 152.
In 1059 mention is made of a bishop of Cassano, whose name is not reported. He was engaged, along with the Provost of Gerace, in resisting the advance of the Normans, led by Robert Guiscard and his brothers. A battle took place against Count Roger at San Martino in Valle Salinarum, in which the Greeks, led by the bishop of Cassano, were defeated.Gaufredus Malaterrae, Historia Siculae Book I, chapter xxxii, in: Ludovico Antonio Muratori (ed.), Rerum Italicarum Scriptores Tomus V (Milan 1723), p. 557. Kehr, p. 25.
In 1096, a bishop of Cassano known as Saxo (Sassone) was a Vicar of Pope Urban II and Pope Paschal II in the region.Kehr, pp. 26-27. In the 11th century, the diocese became a suffragan of Reggio Calabria. Pope Paschal II (1099–1118), however, granted the Church of Cassano complete immunity from the jurisdiction of the Metropolitanate of Reggio Calabria, and took it directly under the protection of the Holy See.Kehr, p. 27 no. 2. On 20 October 1144, King Roger II of Sicily confirmed the privileges of the Church of Cassano.Kehr, p. 27, commentary on no. 2. Biagio Cappelli, "In document di Ruggiero II per la diocesi di Cassano Jonio," Bolletino ecclesiastico della diocese di Cassano Jonio 42 (1964), fasc. 3, pp. 63-64.
Fra Marco d'Assisi Fra Marco of Assissi had already been chosen and installed as bishop of Cassano before 14 January 1268,Clement IV, "Licet nostris tibi". Matthias Thumser, Epistole et dictamina Clementis pape quarti (2007), p. 257, no. 415. Thumser, Epistole and dictamina Clementis pope quarter-- Das Specialregister Pope Clemens' IV (1265-1268), (Wiesbaden 2022). Édouard Jordan, Les registres de Clément IV (Paris: Thorin 1893, p. 418, no. 1284. perhaps earlier than 12–14 December 1267August Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum Vol. 2 (Berlin: De Decker 1875), p. 1626, no. 20183. Before 28 April 1268, he discovered, however, that his approval and consecration were uncanonical, violating a new rule that no member of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) could accept a higher post without the permission of the Minister General or the Minister Provincial.Taccone-Gallucci, p. 164: "Nobis dilecto filio Generali Ministro Fratrum eiusdem Ordinis, quod licet per litteras Sedis Apostolicae fuerit inhibitum ut nulli Fratres ipsius Ordinis, si eos in Episcopos eligi aut postulari forte contigerit, electioni vel postulationi de se factae auderent aliquatenus consentire, nec aliquis Archiepiscopus seu quicumque alius Praelatus vel etiam Legatus Sedis ipsius dictos Fratres, nisi de Generalis Fratrum eiusdem Ordinis vel Provincialium Ministrorum, qui pro tempore essent, licentia et consensu, aut speciali mandato Sedis eiusdem, ad Episcopatum vel alias quaslibet dignitates extra dictum Ordinem assumere praesumerent, vel etiam ordinare." Bishop Marco informed Pope Clement IV of his circumstances, but the pope was under pressure from the Franciscan Master General for a more widespread investigation, and for a suspension from all offices and benefices of those who had transgressed the law.
On 28 April 1268, the pope wrote to Cardinal Raoul Grosparmi, his legate, ordering a general investigation as to whether any permission was given to any Franciscan.Luke Wadding, Annales Minorum, , Vol. 4, second ed. (ed. J.M. Fonseca de Ebora) (Rome: Rocco Bernabo 1733), p. 279. But the pope also authorized him, if the election was otherwise in order, since it was the Cardinal Legate who had arranged for Fra Marco to be consecrated, to specially dispense the bishop in the name of the Holy See, in consideration of his praiseworthy life of virtue and good will."Nos attendentes multiplicia dona virtutis, gratiae ac laudabilis vitae merita dicti Fratris, super quibus laudabile sibi testimonium perhibetur...." Fra Marco was to continue as the legitimate bishop of Cassano.Taccone-Gallucci, Regesti dei Romani Pontefice della Calabria, pp. 164-165: "mandamus, quatenus cum eodem Fratre, decreto et inhibitione et aliis supradictis nequaquam obstantibus, huiusmodi provisio facta de ipso Fratre in Cassanen. Episcopum, ac quidquid actum est circa eam, robur obtineat firmitatis; quodque etiam idem Frater Episcopus ac Pastor dictae Ecclesiae legitime remanere, ac officii sui debitum exequi libere valeat, prout expedire videris, auctoritate Nostra dispenses, supplendo nihilominus auctoritate eadem omnem defectum, si quis praedictorum occasione extitit in praemissis vel in aliquo praemissorum." Three days later, on 1 May, Clement wrote again to Cardinal Grosparmi, summoning him to Viterbo for consultations as soon as possible about Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily.Edouard Jordan, Les registres de Clément IV] (Paris; Thorin 1894), p. 431, no. 1357. ed. Matthias Thumser, Epistole et dictamina Clementis pape quarti (2007), p. 299, no. 488: "Subacta vero Luceria bonum credimus te relicto in regno vicario, prout alias tibi scripsimus, ad nostram presentiam legationis officio non deposito properare, ut super hiis, que nosti, tecum familiariter conferamus et tuam, ut optamus, faciem videamus."
Abuses In a petition of 1566, the citizens of Cassano complained to Pope Pius V (1566–1572) that, for more than fifty years, their bishops had not resided in the city or diocese of Cassano, and had not been carrying out their episcopal functions or administrative duties, but only taking their episcopal income. The casual attitude toward residence and duties spread to the cathedral Chapter and the clergy as well.Pius V, "Cum ad id magis," 17 September 1566: "Sane Nobis nuper pro parte dilectorum filiorum Communitatis et hominum civitatis Cassanen. exhibita petitio continebat, quod cum iam quinquaginta et pluribus annis elapsis pro tempore existentes Episcopi Cassanen. nunquam in dicta Civitate et dioecesi residentiam fecerint, ipsa Ecclesia ac tota dioecesis Pastoris gubernio destituta dici possit, dicti Episcopi non residentes, non curis animarum, non sacrificiis, non gubernio Ecclesiae, sed in percipiendis opimis ordinariis proventibus scutatorum trium millium in circa summam annuatim constituentibus, ac in usurpandis aliis etiam extraordinariis non ipsis Episcopis competentibus..." Taccone-Gallucci,Regesti dei Romani pontefici della Calabria pp. 279-281. It was noted that the popes had had to provide the bishops of Cassano since the local church was unable to offer adequate candidates.Taccone-Gallucci, Regesti dei Romani pontefici della Calabria, p. 280.
Albanians and Greek rites
Beginning in the mid-15th century, under pressure from advancing hostile Turkish forces, numbers of Albanians and Slavs from western Greece, Epirus, and Albania migrated to Italy, all along the Adriatic coast, but especially to the Abruzzi and Calabria.Edwin E. Jacques, The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present, (Jefferson NC: Mc Farland 2012), pp. 194-196. For the most part they were Catholics, of the Greek (Byzantine) rite, and in communion with Rome. In Calabria, they did not assimilate, but kept to their own villages under the rule of their own chiefs, whose position was sanctioned by the kings of Naples. Unsympathetic Latin bishops, however, sought repeatedly to get the Greek rite Catholics to conform to Latin church expectations. This was particularly difficult in the matter of married Greek rite clergy, and the willingness of parishoners to cross the boundaries of rites to receive the sacraments.Fortescue, pp. 118-120.
In the papal bull "Etsi pastoralis" of 26 May 1742, Pope Benedict XIV attempted to remedy some of the abuses and lessen the tensions, forbidding Latin rite bishops from interfering with the use of the Greek rite. "Nor do we allow any Latin Ordinary to molest or to disturb these or any of them. And we inhibit all and any prelates or persons from blaspheming, reproving, or blaming the rites of the Greeks, which were approved in the Council of Florence or elsewhere." His measures failed to have the desired effect.Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 11 (Rome 1919), pp. 222-223. Fortescue, pp. 33, 102.
After nearly two centuries of debate, dissention and disobedience in Calabria between adherents of the Latin rite and those of the Greek rite, including bishops, priests, and laity, Pope Pius X intervened and granted Bishop Giovanni Barcia, titular bishop of Croia (Croiensis), the faculties to confer holy orders on Greek rite clerics of Calabria. Barcia, however, died on 2 December 1912. Pope Benedict XV finally felt compelled to intervene. He ordered the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda fide pro negotiis rituum orientalium to prepare proposals for the administration and reformation of the churches of the Greek rite, and on 19 November 1917, their recommendation decision was taken to create a new diocese."...in plenariis comitiis diei decimae nonae mensis novembris anni millesimi nongentesimi decimi septimi Nobis proponendum censuerunt consilium ut graeci omnes illius regionis Galabrae, quam numero plures incolunt latinis Praesulibus subiecti, ab ordinaria iurisdictione eorumdem Latinorum Antistitum subtracti, unam constituerent graeci ritus dioecesim."Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 11 (1919), pp. 222-227.
On 13 February 1919, territory of four dioceses in Calabria were transferred to create the Eparchy of Lungro for the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. Cassano lost the towns of Acqua Formosa, Civita, Firmo, Frascineto, Lungro, Piataci, Porcile, and S. Basile.Acta Apostolicae Sedis vol. 11 (Rome 1919), pp. 222-225; towns listed at p. 224.. See Canon Antonio Minervini, in: D'Avino, pp. 159-160.
Seminary