SQUILLACE, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the province of Catanzaro. It has an area of more than 960 sq. km., with a population of 124,452 inhabitants, almost all Catholics, distributed among 61 parishes, served by 122 diocesan priests and 24 religious priests; it has a seminary, 6 male and 18 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, pp. 408–409).
The origins of the city are extremely ancient. Barrio says that it was founded by the Ausonians or the Oenotrians, inhabited by the Athenians, and finally colonized by the Romans. It received the Christian faith from the earliest times, since the existence of the episcopal see is known as early as the fifth century. The first bishop whose name is recorded is Gaudentius, who took part in the Synod of Pope Hilary in 465 (Mansi, VII, 959). Two of his successors are said to have been massacred, as would seem to follow from a decretal of Pope Gelasius in 496. Minasi, however, doubts that the crime took place at S., which at that time was governed by Cassiodorus. In 551, Bishop Zacchaeus courageously signed the Constitutum of Pope Vigilius, defying the wrath of the emperor Justinian. St. Gregory the Great often mentions the church of S., to which he transferred John, an exile from Lissitania in Dalmatia, in 592; but against him he defended the « Vivarium » of Cassiodorus. The last Latin bishop was Augustine, who took part in the Council of Pope Martin in 649 (Mansi, X, 866; Harduin, Acta Concil., III, Paris 1715, 691). His successors followed the Greek rite until Theodore Mesimeiros, who received St. Bruno and for whom the Normans appointed a Latin successor in 1096.
Like all the dioceses of Calabria, S. was originally subject to Rome. In the eighth century it was incorporated into the metropolitan see of Reggio, established at that time by the Byzantines. Nevertheless, it obtained exemption from Urban II (PL 151, 210) and from Paschal II in 1110 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 6259); but Pope Alexander III recognized it as a suffragan of Reggio in 1165 (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 11239). In the Provinciale of Albino it is exempt, whereas in Cencio Camerario it is a suffragan of Reggio. From the time of Innocent III onward, it no longer appears among the dioceses immediately subject to the Holy See. The erection of the diocese of Catanzaro in 1121 was carried out at the expense of that of S.; for the diocese of Taverna and the Chronica Trium Tabernarum, V. CATANZARO.
S. not only gave birth to Cassiodorus, but also housed the two monasteries founded by him, the Castellese and the « Vivarium », the latter of which was an academy where the sciences and the arts, especially writing, were cultivated. It also hosted St. Bruno and his disciple and successor Lanuinus, who founded the charterhouse of S. Stefano del Bosco, later called Serra S. Bruno, which even today preserves the founder’s relics. The various Basilian monasteries scattered throughout its territory must also be mentioned, among them S. Maria de Veteri Squillaci, S. Maria de Carra, S. Gregorio di Staletti, and S. Basilio di Torre Spatola, which was brought distinction by S. Basilio di Montepaone. Sirleto (v.) was born at Guardavalle, near Stilo. CAMPANELLO (v.) was born at Stignano, another hamlet of Stilo.