The Diocese of Tropea (Latin: Tropiensis) was a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese located in the city of Tropea in the province of Vibo Valentia, in Calabria, Italy. On 30 September 1986, the diocese was suppressed, and its territory incorporated into the Diocese of Mileto–Nicotera–Tropea).

History By 594, a diocese was established as the Diocese of Meria or Myria. Pope Gregory I wrote to his notary in Reggio that the archdeacon Leo and the other clergy should assemble in their church of Myreia and elect a bishop, who, once consecrated, should receive the property of the church. The property was in the hands of Bishop Dono of Messana.Kehr X, p. 44.

The Diocese of Tropea is first heard of in 649, when Bishop Joannes attended the Roman council of Pope Martin I.Kehr X, p. 37: "Episcopatus fortassis e Myria civ. siti incerti huc translati prima memoria habetur ex saec. VII, cum episcopi Tropeani interfuerunt conciliis Romanorum pontificum a. 649 lohannes (Mansi X 866. 1163) et a. 680 Theodoras (ib. XI 302. 773

The Diatyposis of the Emperor Leo VI (c. 900) lists the Greek Metropolitan of Reggio and his suffragans: the dioceses of Vibona, Tauriana, Locri, Rossano, Squillace, Tropea, Amantea, Cotrone, Cosenza, Nicotera, Bisignano, Nicastro and Cassano.

In 902, Tropea gained territory from the suppressed Diocese of Nicotera.

In 1059, the diocese lost territory to establish Diocese of Nicotera. In 1094, the diocese gained territory from the suppressed Diocese of Amantea.Kehr X, p. 38: "a. 1094 m. dec. Rogerius dux Apuliae, Calabriae, Siciliae confirmavit omnia, quae eius praedecessores antistites graeci tam apud Amantheam quam apud Tropeam possederant (edd. Ughelli XIX 629; 2IX 451; Capialbi I.e. App. p. 10. 12). Unde conici licet Amantheensem episcopatum iam sub Graecorum dominatione Tropeanae eccl. adiunctum esse.."

In 1165, Pope Alexander III confirmed the privileges of the archbishops of Reggio Calabria, previously granted by Pope Gregory VII and Eugenius III naming Tropea as one of its suffragan dioceses.Taccone-Gallucci, pp. 72-74: "Praeterea ipsum Rhegiensem Archiepisco patum, cum onmnibus suis Episcopatibus, videlicet Tropaeano, Neocastrensi, Sillano, Cassanensi, Bovensi, Geratino, Opensi et Crotonensi, atque cum adiacentibus parochiis suis, tibi tuisque successoribus confirmamus, et ordinandi seu consecrandi Episcopos, tam Graecos quam Latinos Ecclesiae tuae subiectos."

On 15 March 1179, Pope Alexander III, in the bull "Ideo sumus", confirmed for Bishop Coridonius, all the rights and privileges belonging to the Church of Tropea.Ughelli IX, p. 452. Ughelli gives the date of 1178, but the bull gives the indiction as XII, and the text of the bull in Taccone-Gallucci, p. 79, reads "anno millesimo centesimo septuagesimo nono. Jaffé II, p. 340, no. 13325, also gives the date as 15 March 1179. The privileges were confirmed again by Pope Innocent III in a bull of 16 November 1200.Capialbi (1852), Memorie, "Appendice", p. 23.

In 1296, Bishop Jordanus Ruffus (1272–1296) established the first convent of Franciscans in Tropea.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), Regesta pontificum, p. 421.

The diocese lost territory to Archdiocese of Cosenza and Diocese of Nicastro

On 29 January 1523, Pope Clement VII confirmed the establishment of a Dominican convent in Tropea. He did so with considerable annoyance, having been presented with a fait accompli, in the face of a bull of Pope Boniface VIII, prohibiting the establishment of institutions by any of the mendicant orders without papal license.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), Regesta pontificum, p. 267: "Non obstantibus praemissis, et fel. record. Bonifacii Papae Octavi Praedecessoris Const. prohibente, ne Ordinis Mendicantium Fratres nova loca ad habitandum recipere seu iam recepta mutare praesumant absque Sedis Apostolicae licentia speciali, plenam et expressam de prohibitione huiusmodi mentionem faciente...." The project had been initiated by Petrus Paulus Bonsaulis and Benedictus Guoarnes of Troia, who were the patrons of the church of S. Maria de Recomodata, immediately outside the walls of the city, and of the hospital next to it; the two patrons were illegally usurping the income of the parish and the hospital, and ruling them without ecclesiastical license. After some time, their guilty consciences prompted them to make amends. When their accomplice the parish priest died, they applied to the bishop to provide a new priest, which he did, and the patrons ceased their illegal usurpations. To preserve the institutions which they had despoiled, they decided to have both the parish and the hospital turned over to some religious order, the Augustinians or the Dominicans, with the cooperation of the bishop. They approached Frater Thomas, the Vicar General of the Dominicans in Calabria, resident in Mileto, with whom they entered into an agreement, which recognized the lay patronage in the form of an annual money payment to the two patrons and their heirs, and granted the Dominicans full rights of governance as well as the right to build a convent;"Quapropter Thomas et Fratres praedicti, cupientes in agro Domini fructum salutiferum afferre, Ecclesiam et Hospitale huiusmodi pro eorum habitatione, et ad illa regendum et gubernandum ac eis in divinis deserviendum et inibi Domum pro usu et habitatione Fratrum Ordinis Praedicatorum huiusmodi construi et aedificari faciendum acceptare velle deliberarunt." the agreement was registered in the offices of the bishop. Despite his outrage at the illegal proceedings, which he recited in extreme detail, Pope Clement granted his permission.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), Regesta pontificum, pp. 263-267.

Pope Clement VII, in the Concordat of 1529, granted the Emperor Charles V and his successors the patronage over the dioceses of Reggio, Cassano, Cotrone, and Tropea.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), p. 375. Cardinal Vincenzo Lauro (1523–1592) was a native of Tropea.Capialbi, pp. xxxiv-xxxv.

In 1600, the Jesuits founded a college in Tropea, thanks to the efforts of a patrician of Tropea, Girolamo Tauli, who travelled to Naples to negotiate with the Provincial of the Neapolitan province of the Jesuits.Francesco Schinosi, Istoria della compagnia di Giesu, appartenente al regno di Napoli, Volume 2 (Napoli: Michele Luigi Mutio 1711), pp. 381-382. Taccone-Gallucci (1902), p. 390. In 1649, there were twenty colleges in the Jesuit province of Naples, but at Tropea, though there were twelve Jesuits in residence, only one of them taught.Paul F. Grendler (2022), Humanism, Universities, and Jesuit Education in Late Renaissance Italy, (Leiden: Brill 2022), pp. 364-365 with note 72.

Cathedral

The cathedral of Tropea was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was administered by a corporation, the Chapter, which included six dignities (the Dean, the Archdeacon, the Cantor, the Treasurer, the Archpriest, and the Penitentiary) and eighteen other canons.Ughelli IX, p. 449. Ritzler and Sefrin VI, p. 419, note 1.

Bishop Fabrizio Caracciolo (1615–1626) presided over a diocesan synod in 1618. In the records of the synod, he mentions that the seminary of Tropea was already in existence.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), p. 391. Capialbi, p. xxi.

The famous Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher, happened to be in Tropea, intending to lodge at the Jesuit college, when the earthquake of 1638 took place; before his eyes, the college and many of the other buildings began falling, and he returned unsteadily to the shore and boarded his boat, while the shocks continued; he wrote of "universal ruin,' as he left the "seat of desolation".Susan Elizabeth Hough, Roger G. Bilham (2006), After the Earth Quakes: Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet, (Oxford University Press 2006), p. 89. On 2 October 1687, Tropea was the center of a major Calabrian earthquake. There was a great deal of damage to structures, but no reports of loss of life.Mario Baratta, I terremoti d'Italia , (Torino: Fratelli Bocca 1901), p. 152. In May 1783, there were a number of earthquakes throughout Calabria. At Tropea, there were twenty deaths and sixty injuries reported. The cathedral was severely damaged.Cappelletti XXI, p. 218: "Fu danneggiata assai e quasi distrutta dal'orribile terremoto." Baratta, pp. 288, 290 (15 May). Earthquakes in 1905 and 1908 again damaged the Norman cathedral.E.G., "Tropea (Catanzaro): Cattedrale," in: Bollettino d'arte Milano: Bestetti e Tumminelli/Roma: La Libreria dello Stato, Anno VI (1926), pp. 574-575.

Bishop Felix de Paù (1751–1782) had the resources of the defunct Basilian monastery of S. Michele Archangelo transferred to the use of the diocesan seminary, following the death of the last Abbot Commendatory, Saverio Dattilo, in 1768.Taccone-Gallucci (1902), p. 303. Cf. Kehr X, p. 39.

On 27 June 1818, the dioceses of Nicastro and Tropea were united aeque personaliter as the diocese of Nicastro e Tropea, by Pope Pius VII.Archivio storico della Calabria Anno I (Mileto-Catanzaro 1912–1913) p. 659. aeque personaliter refers to the holding of two separate dioceses by one and the same bishop.

On September 30, 1986 the diocese of Tropea was suppressed, and its territory united to the Diocese of Mileto–Nicotera–Tropea.Acta Apostolicae Sedis 79 (Città del Vaticano 1987), pp. 744-746.

Bishops of Tropea Erected: 7th Century

to 1500

Severinus (d. 594)Severinus: Lanzoni, p. 331-332. ..... Joannes (attested 649)Bishop Joannes attended the Roman council of Pope Martin I (649–653) in October 649, along with 104 other bishops. Philippus Jaffé, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, Tomus I, editio secunda (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 230. ..... Theodorus (attested 679)Bishop Theodorus attended the Roman council of Pope Agatho (678–681) in October 679. Jaffé, p. 238. ..... Theodorus (787)At the Second Council of Nicaea (the 7th ecumenical council), bishops from Calabria were present: Costantino di Reggio, Teodoro di Tauriana, Cristoforo di Locri or S. Ciriaca, Stefano di Vibona, Sergio di Nicotera, Teotimo di Cotrone and Teodoro di Tropea. Capialbi (1852), Memorie, p. 3. Taccone-Gallucci (1902), p. 315. ..... Petrus Kalochinus (attested 1066)Kehr X, p. 37: "Ultimi episcopi graeci Kalochinus (vel potius Kalochirius) protosyncellus eiusque antecessor Petrus in charta Roberti Guiscardi ducis a. 1066 m. nov., ut videtur, data (ed. Capialbi Memorie della chiesa tropeana, Appendix, p. 13 [-17]) laudantur." ..... Justego (attested 1094–1116)Justego, or Justero, or Justenus, or Tristeni, or Tristani, or Tusteius, was the first Latin bishop of Tropea. Kehr X, p. 37: "Primo latino episcopo „Iustego“ sive „Iustero“, quem inde ab a. 1094 aug. 15 usque ad a. 1116 m. oct. invenimus...." ..... GeruntiusGeruntius: Gams, p. 937. HervaeusHervaeus: Gams, p. 937. ..... Caradon (attested 1179–1194)Called Coridonus, or Coridonius elsewhere. In Ughelli's text, p. 452, the dative of address reads "Coridoni". Kamp, p. 997.

..... Riccardus (1199–1204)Kamp, p. 998. Radulfus (attested before 1215)Radulfus: Kamp, p. 998. Joannes (1215–1237)Joannes: Kamp, pp. 999-1000. Marinus (1262–1266)Magister Marinus de Gaieta: Kamp, pp. 1001-1002. Jordanus Ruffus (1272–1296)Jordanus: Kamp, pp. 1002-1005. ArcadiusArcadius: Eubel I, p. 500. RichardusRichardus: Eubel I, p. 500. Robertus (c. 1322–1357)Robertus: Capialbi (1852), Memorie, "Appendice", p. 6 (1344). Eubel I, p. 500. Rolandinus de Malatichis (1357–1387) Roman Obedience?Rolandinus was provided (appointed) Bishop of Giovinazzo by Pope Boniface IX (Roman Obedience) on 24 October 1390. Eubel I, pp. 289 with note 8; 500, with notes 2 and 3. Nicolaus Trara (1387– ? ) Avignon ObedienceNicolaus was appointed by Pope Clement VII on 11 September 1387. Eubel I, p. 500. Pavo de Griffis (1390–1410) Roman ObediencePavo was Bishop of Polignano (1375–1379), but he was removed as a follower of Urban VI. He was appointed Bishop of Tropea by Pope Boniface IX on 27 November 1390. Eubel I, pp. 405, 500.