CARIATI, DIOCESE of. — C. is a small town on the Ionian coast, between Punta di Fiume Freddo and Capo Trionto, in the province of Cosenza. As a diocese, it was founded in 1438 by Eugene IV at the request of Princess Covella Ruffo Marzano. It arose united aequè principaliter with the ancient church of Cerenzia, whose existence dates from considerably earlier. Indeed, this is attested by the “Diatiposi” of Leo VI the Philosopher (866–911), where it appears as a suffragan of S. Severina. Because of its proximity to S. Giovanni in Fiore, the seat of the Florensian archicenobium, it is frequently mentioned in the charters of the Florensian Congregation of the 12th and 13th centuries. Among its bishops are remembered the blessed Policronius, a Basilian monk, who founded the monastery of S. Maria di Altilia, known as Calabro Maria; the blessed Bernardo, a Cistercian and contemporary of Gioachino da Fiore; and the blessed Matteo Vitari, a disciple of Gioachino himself and his first successor in the governance of the Florensian Congregation. But in the 15th century it was in complete decline, and ultimately yielded its place to C.
The new diocese, erroneously identified by Barrio with the Carini mentioned by S. Gregory the Great, was unsuccessfully claimed by Rossano, in whose territory it lay: it was declared a suffragan of S. Severina.
In 1543 C. was attacked by the Turks, and its bishop, Giovanni Carmuto, was deported as a slave to Algiers. In 1561 its bishop was Alessandro Crivelli, later nuncio in Spain and a cardinal. From 1602 to 1619 it was governed by the venerable Filippo Gesualdi of Castrovillari, who had been minister general of the Conventuals for nine years.
In 1818 the diocese of C. benefited from the territories of the suppressed dioceses of Cerenzia, Umbriatico, and Strongoli, and remained the sole suffragan of S. Severina. Within its territory lies Cirò, birthplace of Luigi and Antonio Giglio, whose fame is linked to the reform of the Gregorian calendar.
C. has an area of 869.75 sq km: it has 30 parishes, with 34 diocesan priests and 50,021 inhabitants (1948).