The Diocese of Scala was established perhaps around or after 987 as a regular diocese with its cathedra (seat) in Scala on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. On 31 July 1603 it was united aeque principaliter (two dioceses governed by one bishop, 'on equal terms') with the diocese of Ravello. On 27 June 1818 the dioceses of Ravello and Scala were suppressed by Pope Pius VII. All their territory was incorporated into the Archdiocese of Amalfi, now the Archdiocese of Amalfi-Cava de' Tirreni.

In 1968 Scala was established as a titular see of the Catholic Church.

History

Scala is claimed to be the oldest town on the Amalfi coast, set about above sea level.

According to a tradition, found in local chronicles, the town of Scala was founded after 337 AD by a group of shipwrecked Romans who had fled from Ragusa and were trying to make their way to Byzantium. they settled first at Amalfi, and when they were being attacked, they fled to Ebulum, then to Montana, which is now called Scala."Chronicon Amalphitanum", p. 145-146: "Propterea idem Melphitani qui Scalam usque pervenerant, de loci situ perscrutabiliter inquirentes, descenderunt ad Vallem, quæ ex parte occidentis subjacet Monti, qui nunc Scala vocatur, perlustrantes usque ad plagam littoris Cujus loci situs eis valde placuit propter ejus fecuritatem, & copiam duorum fluminum, quibus Scala circumvallatur." Matteo Camera (1881), p. 251. The aristocracy of the Amalfi coast, including Scala, insisted on tracing their ancestry to Romans, in the belief that it gave them superiority to all their neighbors, whom they identified as Lombards, Normans, Angevins, and Aragonese.Camera, Istoria... II (1836), p. 304: "La nobiltà di Scala come quella di Amalfi e Ravello surta da un istesso stipite , a suoi tempi vantava una certa supremazia sulle altre del regno, sì per aver sortita un'origine dal sangue Romano , differente da molte altre che o per privilegi accidentali , o per compensi di servigj resiallo stato, furono da' sovrani Normanni, Svevi, Angioini, Aragonesi ec." The Afflitti of Scala, in particular, traced their ancestry to the martyr Eustathius, master of the cavalry of the Emperor Trajan (98–117).Camera, Istoria... II (1836), p. 304: "La prima che ci si ofì're in tal rincontro é la famiglia Afflitto, generalmente dagli storici creduta derivare l'origine dal famoso guerriero Eustachio, maestro de'cavalieri sotto l'imperador Traiano, il quale verso l'anno 103 dell' e. V. per aver abbracciato la fede cristiana fu crudelmente esposto a sostenere i più acerbi tormenti..." Trajan is on record (Pliny, Epistles Book 10, no. 97), however, as forbidding the persecution of Christians for their beliefs. A Matteo D'Afflitto, perhaps in the 10th century, established the Church of S. Eustachio in the diocese of Scala, in the village called Scallela, now called Pontone.Camera, Istoria... II (1836), p. 316, 307.

A fortified bastion, Scala was part of the defensive system of the territory of Amalfi. Its history is closely related to that of the Republic of Amalfi (10th to 11th cent.).

Establishment of diocese The diocese was established and its first bishop consecrated by Archbishop Leo, the first archbishop of Amalfi, who, at the time of his own consecration in Rome, on 13 February 988, had been granted the privilege of establishing three bishoprics in his ecclesiastical territory. After his return to Amalfi, perhaps in 988, first he established the diocese of Capri and consecrated Bishop Ioannes. Secondly he established Scala and consecrated Bishop Sergius. Thirdly he established the diocese of Littere and consecrated Bishop Stephen. There is no indication of a chronology. Only the "Chronicon Archiepiscoporum Amalphitanum" refers to this series of events."Chronicon", p. 145: "An. ab Incarn. Domini N(ostri) I(esu) C(hristi) DCCCCXIV. die XXX. mensis Novemb. VIII. Indict. placuit domino Mansoni Duci & Imperiali Patritio, ac cuncto clero & Populo universo, eligere ad Archiepiscopalem ordinem Leonem Præsbyterum & Monachum; filium Sergii de Urso comite; qui consecratus est die XIII. Febr. & accepit Pallium Archiepiscopatus, per manus Sergii III. Summi Pont(ificis) in Sacratiss(imo) Palatio Lateranen(e), cum apostolica benedictione. Igitur prædictus Leo I. Archiepiscopus S.Sedis Amalphitanæ Ecclesiæ; una cum tota Plebe sua, & universo Clero suæ diocæsis ordinavit tres Episcopos, primum scilicet Joannem, & eum in Episcopum consecravit in insula Capritana. Secundum vero Sergium, & ipsum in regimine; qui nunc Scalar(um) dicitur: tertio vero Stephanum in Castellis Stabiensib(us), qui dicitur nunc Episcopus Litterar(um)." The Eighth Indiction, however, ran from 1 September 904–905. Sergius III was pope from 904 to 911, and therefore dead in 914, the date of the archbishop's election. the proposed date of 987 was in the First Indiction from 1 September 987. Three major emendations appear to be needed to make the statement in the chronicle useful. See Kehr, Italia pontificia VIII, p. 386.

The diocese of Scala was regularly in the hands of a bishop from the Afflitto family. These included: Orso d' Afflitto (1144), Costantino (1209–1223), Matteo d'Aflitto bishop of Monopoli, then of Scala (1227–1269); Natale d ' Afflitto (1418–1450), and Francesco d' Afflitto (1583–1593). In nearby dioceses: Angelo d'Afflitto of Scala was bishop of Anagni (1405); Orsillo d' Afflitto di Scala was bishop of Monopoli (1405); Francesco d'Afflitto was bishop of Nardò (1452); Annibale d'Afflitto was archbishop of Reggio Calabriae (1593); Francescantonio d' Afflitto was Vicar-general of the diocese of Amalfi, then bishop S. Marco (Calabria) (1580).Camera (1881), Memorie... II, p. 292.

In 1073 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy, after a strong siege, Scala was burned by Robert Guiscard.Matteo Camera, Memorie storico-diplomatiche dell'antica città e ducato di Amalfi, , Vol. 1 (Salerno: tip. Nazionale 1876), p. 268. Subsequently, it was sacked twice by the Pisans (1135–1136);William Heywood, A History of Pisa, Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Cambridge: CUP 1921), pp. 84-88. by the Emperor Otto IV (1210); and by the Sicilians (1283). The war between the Angevins and the Aragonese following the Sicilian Vespers of 1282 brought hardship and dislocation to Scala; many fled to Benevento or to Naples. Charles II of Naples demanded in 1290 that the refugees return.Camera (1881), Memorie... II, p. 262: "Intelleximus quod quosdam homines Scale cum eorum familiis abinde recessisse, alios quidem Neapolim, alios Beneventum, vel alio suum transferentes incolatum, ex quo ipsius terre redditur munitio debilis, quos cogas repetere incolatum etc. Data Neap. die 9 mensis martij III Indict . 1290."

On 13 March 1192, Pope Celestine III issued the bull "In Apostolicae Sedis," in which he took the diocese of Scala under papal protection, and confirmed the boundaries of the diocese in precise detail. He also confirmed the right of the cathedral Chapter to elect the bishop when a vacancy occurred.Kehr VIII, p. 396, no. 2. Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio, , Vol. 3 (Turin: Franco, Fory, & Dalmazzo 1858), pp. 83-84: "Obeunte vero te nunc eiusdem loci episcopo, vel tuorum quolibet successorum, nullus ad eandem Ecclesiam in episcopum eligatur, nisi quem canonici eiusdem Ecclesiae, vel eorum pars consilii sanioris secundum Deum providerint eligendum." Camera (1881), Memorie..., pp. 259-260.

Ravello e Scala On 31 July 1603, Pope Clement VIII united the diocese of Scala with the diocese of Ravello, aeque personaliter.Ughelli I, p. 1193. The privilege of Ravello's exemption from all other jurisdictions except the papacy continued even after the union of the two dioceses.Kehr VIII, p. 401: "Sic remansit semper Romanae ecclesiae immediate subiectus atque etiam post a. 1603, quando Clemente VIII iubente cum Scalensi vicino episcopatu unitus est." Scala, however, was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Amalfi.Ritzler & Sefrin, Hierarchia catholica VI, p. 353, note 1.

Chapter and cathedral The cathedral of the diocese, dedicated to Saint Lawrence, was built in its original form during the 12th century in Romanesque style. IT was rebuilt or restored in 1406, 1481, 1524, and 1616.Camera (1881), Memorie..., p. 257, col. 2. It was modified in the 17th and 18th centuries, preserving only the original structure of the portal. The interior is in the form of a nave and two aisles, with high-quality stuccoes and a vault decorated with scenes from the saint's life (1748).

In the Gothic-style crypt is the colored stucco sarcophagus of Marinella Rufolo with a group of 14th-century wooden statues and other sculptures commissioned by her widower, Antonio Coppola.Camera (1881), Memorie... II, p. 257: "Nella critta o soccorpo ammirasi un grazioso avello di stucco di Marinella Rufolo, moglie di Antonio Coppola patrizio di Scala, il quale era già vedovo di lei nel 1399."

Scala during the height of its economic splendor had about 130 churches, of which 30 were parish churches.Camera, Istorie..., p. 306. It is also noted as the birthplace of Gerard Thom (Gerardo de Saxo), the founder of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights Hospitaller.Camera (1881), Memorie... II, pp. 279-280.

The contemplative religious order for women called the Redemptoristines was founded and established in Scala in the 1730s, through the efforts of Father Maurizio Filangeri, Father Tommaso Falcoia, and Father Alphonsus Liguori.Camera (1881), Memorie..., p. 289, col. 2.

Reorganization of 1818 Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and King Ferdinand IV reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand, however, was not prepared to accept the pre-Napoleonic situation, in which Naples was a feudal subject of the papacy. Lengthy, detailed, and acrimonious negotiations ensued.

In 1818, a new concordat with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies committed the pope to the suppression of more than fifty small dioceses in the kingdom. These were carried out in the papal bull "De Utiliore" of 27 June 1818. Amalfi lost its status as a metropolitan archdiocese and became merely the Archdiocese of Amalfi, even though it gained territories from the suppressed dioceses of Minori and of Ravello and Scala.: "Archiepiscopali ecclesiae Amalphitanae quae nullum imposterum habebit suffraganeum, praevia suppressione et extinctione Scalensis, Ravellensis, et Minoriensis episcopalium ecclesiarum, illarum tres civitates cum integro respective dioecesano territorio perpetuo unimus, adjungimus, atque incorporamus."

Titular See of Scala

In 1968, the name Scala, but not the diocese itself, was revived as a titular see of the Catholic Church.Gabriel Chow, GCatholic.org, "Titular Episcopal See of Scala"; retrieved 29 February 2016. Additional titular sees were needed as theoretical bishoprics for the increasing number of auxiliary bishops, papal Apostolic Delegates and Nuncios, and middle-level bureaucrats in the papal Curia, whose offices required a certain standing in the Hierarchy of the Church. The title of Scala is currently held by Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, who was Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, and is now retired.Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 965"Diocese of Scala Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016

Bishops of Scala

Diocesan bishops Sergio (987 - ?)Sergius: Ughelli VII, p. 327. Alessandro (1118 - ?)Alexander: Ughelli VII, p. 327. Orso D'Afflitto (1144 - ?)Ursus: Ughelli VII, p. 327. Alessandro (II) (1171 - after 1191)Alexander (II): Ughelli VII, p. 327.