History
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The Gospel was first preached in Cosenza by missionaries from Reggio.[3] It is pointed out, however, that there is no evidence for such claims, and that the earliest document dates from the early fifth century.[4] The earliest known bishop of Cosenza is Palumbus, a correspondent (599) of Pope Gregory I.[5]
In 903, the Emir Ibrahim, in his attempt to conquer Calabria, reached as far as Cosenza, where he died.[6]
Under the Lombards, Salerno was the metropolitan, and Cosenza was one of its suffragans. In 994, Pope John XV confirmed the metropolitan status of Salerno.[7]
Cosenza was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric about 1050. Among the best known Archbishops of Cosenza have been: Ruffo, who perished in the earthquake of 1184; the Cistercian Martino (1285), a prolific but uncritical writer; Taddeo, later Cardinal, Gaddi (1535), who obtained from Paul IV the privilege by which the cathedral canons of Cosenza wear the choir habit of the Vatican basilica; and Giuseppe Maria Sanfelice (1650), frequently charged by the Holy See with diplomatic missions.[8]
Pope Innocent III (1198–1216) had planned to visit Sicily in order to drum up interest, funds, and volunteers, for his crusade in the Holy Land, but never did. His successor, Honorius III, assumed the obligation, but was persuaded not to go to Sicily by his advisors, due to the lack of organization, which might lead the faithful to think that the project was hopeless.[9] On 8 July 1217, therefore, the pope appointed the Archbishop of Cosenza, the Cistercian monk Lucas, to go personally to Messina, to organize and preach the crusade.[10] The archbishop was also to weed out the weak, incompetent, and the genuinely poor, dispensing them by papal authority from whatever oaths and promises they had undertaken.[11]
The seminary of Cosenza was founded through the initiative of Cardinal Giovanni Evangelista Pallotta (1587–1591)[12]
Cathedral and Chapter
The cathedral of Cosenza, like nearly all the cathedrals of the former Kingdom of Naples, is dedicated to the Taking Up of the Body of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. The older cathedral was dedicated to Saint Pancratius. Cosenza's cathedral was administered by a corporation, called the Chapter, composed of four dignities (the Dean-Penitentiary, the Archdeacon, the Cantor, and the Treasurer) and seventeen canons, one of whom is the Theologus and another the Sub-Cantor. The cathedral is the parish church for the entire city, and there are three suburban parishes.[13]
A provincial synod was held by the metropolitan, Archbishop Fantino Petrignano from 10 May to 17 May 1579; its constitutions were published.[14] A provincial synod was held by the archbishop of Cosenza, (Cardinal) Giovanni Evangelista Pallotta (1587–1591).[15]
Archbishop Giovanni Battista Costanzo (1591–1617) presided over a diocesan synod of Cosenza in the metropolitan cathedral on 18 October 1592.[16] He held a second diocesan synod in 1603.[17]
In 1694, Cosenza had a population of c. 12,000, and the whole diocese contained 93 towns and villages. There were 12 religious houses of men, and 5 convents of women. The Franciscans held five churches, including ones by the Conventuals, the Observants, the Stricter Observants, and the Capuchins. There were also the Benedictines of Montecassino, the Dominicans, the Carmelites, the Discalced Carmelites of S. Teresa, the Minims of S. Francis de Paola, the Theatines, and the Jesuits.[18] In 1908, The diocese had a population of 159,500, with 109 parishes, 264 churches and chapels, 200 secular and 16 regular priests, 2 religious houses of men and 5 of women.[8]
Diocesan reorganization
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), in order to ensure that all Catholics received proper spiritual attention, decreed the reorganization of the diocesan structure of Italy and the consolidation of small and struggling dioceses. It also recommended the abolition of anomalous units such as exempt territorial prelatures.[19]
On April 4, 1979, the diocese of Bisignano was separated from the Diocese of San Marco e Bisignano and united with the archdiocese of Cosenza, as Cosenza e Bisignano.[20] The diocese of San Marco was given compensating territory, and named the Diocese of San Marco Argentano-Scalea.[21]
On 18 February 1984, the Vatican and the Italian State signed a new and revised concordat. Based on the revisions, a set of Normae was issued on 15 November 1984, which was accompanied in the next year, on 3 June 1985, by enabling legislation. According to the agreement, the practice of having one bishop govern two separate dioceses at the same time, aeque personaliter, was abolished. Instead, the Vatican continued consultations which had begun under Pope John XXIII for the merging of small dioceses, especially those with personnel and financial problems, into one combined diocese.
On 30 September 1986, Pope John Paul II ordered that the dioceses of Cosenza e Bisignano be merged into one diocese with one bishop, with the Latin title Archidioecesis Cosentina-Bisinianensis. The seat of the diocese was to be in Cosenza, and the cathedral of Cosenza was to serve as the cathedral of the merged dioceses. The cathedral in Bisignano was to become a co-cathedral, and the cathedral Chapter was to be a Capitulum Concathedralis. There was to be only one diocesan Tribunal, in Cosenza, and likewise one seminary, one College of Consultors, and one Priests' Council. The territory of the new diocese was to include the territory of the former dioceses of Cosenza and Bisignano.[22]
Without suffragans, and therefore no longer a metropolitan archdiocese, Cosenza-Bisignano became directly dependent upon the Holy See. This situation changed in 2001, when Pope John Paul II further reformed the diocesan structure of Calabria. On 30 January 2001, he ordered that the metropolitan status of Cosenza-Bisignano be restored, and that it be assigned as suffragans the dioceses of Rossano-Cariata and Cassano, which were removed from the jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Reggio Calabria.[23]
