GERACE, DIOCESE OF. — Gerace, in southern Calabria, in the province of Reggio, at 480 m above sea level, on a plateau that connects the Aspromonte to the Serre. It is the successor of Locri Epizephyrii, a Greek colony founded in 673, a republic rival to Reggio and Crotone, which in the legislation of Zaleucus boasts the oldest written code in all of Europe. Conquered by Scipio Africanus in 205 BC, it lost its importance throughout the Roman period and was destroyed by the Saracens in the 7th century. The surviving inhabitants took refuge in the mountains, giving rise to Upper Gerace, called S. Cirica in Greek documents. The episcopal see was also transferred there, contrary to what Ughelli writes, who speaks of a union of the see of Locri with that of Gerace. In reality, medieval documents always mention only one bishop: of Locri from the beginning to the 7th century; of S. Cirica in Greek documents, i.e., in the 7th–11th centuries; of Gerace in Latin documents, i.e., from the 11th century onwards.
The diocese of Gerace is among the oldest in Calabria: a Christian inscription from 391, found in its territory, attests to the vitality of Christianity as early as the 4th century. Local writers mention a Basilius, who in 451 would have attended the Council of Chalcedon, signing as bishop of Paleopolis, which would be the name adopted by Locri in the early Middle Ages. But apart from the name being premature for that date, there is no doubt that this is an unwarranted appropriation, since no Italian bishop attended Chalcedon apart from the papal legates, and thus the Paleopolis mentioned is the namesake city in the East. The bishop Peter, who attended the Council of Felix III in 487, according to Lanzoni, is not “episcopus Locrensis,” but “Lorensis,” i.e., of Loro in Etruria.
St. Gregory the Great mentions the church of Locri several times. From his Register it appears that in 597, upon the death of Bishop Dolcino, the people sent to Rome a proposal for a candidate whom the Pope could not accept; a priest from Tauriano near Catania, named Marcian, had to be sought, who received papal approval.
In the 8th century, Gerace, like all other dioceses in Calabria, was detached from Rome and aggregated to the patriarchate of Constantinople, which, having created the metropolis of Reggio, also assigned Gerace as its suffragan. The Normans restored the dioceses of Calabria to Roman obedience, but the Byzantine circumscriptions were maintained, and thus Gerace remained always a suffragan of Reggio. The Greek rite, however, lasted a long time there, being suppressed only by Atanasius Calceopoli in 1461. Greek monasteries abounded in its territory, and many bishops were Basilian monks.
Among its prelates, besides Calceopoli, who in 1472 also had the diocese of Oppido, which remained united to Gerace for half a century, are to be remembered Joannicius and John Tirso, Basilian monk of the first half of the 14th century, of holy life; the monk Barlaam of Seminara, the greatest controversialist of the 14th century, Greek teacher of Petrarch and forerunner of Humanism; Simon Atumano, a most learned biblical scholar; Cardinals Oliviero Carafa, Bandinello Sauli, Francesco Armellino Medici, and Alessandro Cesarini, all of the 16th century; Andrea Candida (1552–74), who founded the seminary, and Ottaviano Pasqua (1574–91), who collected the memories of his predecessors.
The cathedral of Gerace is one of the most interesting buildings in Calabria. It was built by the Normans; the central nave rests on 24 columns from ancient Locri. It has a magnificent carved choir.
In the diocese, in the comune of S. Luca, is the sanctuary of the Madonna di Polsi, of Basilian origin, one of the most famous and frequented in the region; the Basilian abbeys of S. Nicodemo in Mammola and of S. Nicola in Butrano.
Natives of Gerace include the saints Icunius and Anthony, Basilians; the blessed Anthony the Cappadocian; the venerable Jerome, Dominican; the venerable Bonaventura Perna, Conventual. Mammola, a pleasant town in the diocese, famous for the Basilian monastery of S. Nicodemo, where he died in 990, gave birth to Apollinare Agresta and Giuseppe Del Pozzo, generals of the Basilian Order, and to Gian Crisostomo Scarfo, Basilian monk and esteemed writer of the 18th century.
The diocese of Gerace covers 2,500 sq km; it has 20 vicariates, with 73 parishes, 107 diocesan and regular priests, and a population of 148,700 Catholics out of 149,000 inhabitants.