The Italian Catholic diocese of Cariati, in Calabria, existed until 1979. In that year it was united into the archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati. It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Santa Severina, and then of the archdiocese of Reggio Calabria.
The first bishop of Cariati mentioned in history is Menecrates, present at the Synod of Rome in 499. In one of his letters, Gregory the Great recommends the Church of Cariati to the Bishop of Reggio Calabria. According to some, during the eleventh or twelfth century the diocese of Cerenza (Geruntia, Gerenza) was united to Cariati, though it is only in 1342 that mention is made of a Bishop of Cariati and Cerenza.
Among the bishops were:
Polychronius (1099), founder of the monastery of S. Maria de Attilia in Santa Severina;
the Cistercian Matteo (1234), first Abbot of San Giovanni di Fiore;
Alessandro Crivello (1561), a gallant soldier, afterwards nuncio in Spain;
Fra Filippo Gesualdo (1602), a Minor Conventual.
In 1818 Pope Pius VII united with this diocese Strongoli and Umbriatico.
Erected: 14th Century
Latin Name: Cariatensis
United: 1342 with the Diocese of Cerenzia
Latin Name: Cariatensis et Geruntina
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Santa Severina
Girolamo Candido, O.F.M. (20 Nov 1500 - 1504 Died)
Francesco Dentice (7 Mar 1504 - 1505 Died)
Martino de Lignano, O.P. (6 Oct 1505 - 1506 Died)
Giovanni Sarsali (21 Aug 1506 - )
Antonio Ercolano (21 May 1520 - 1528 Resigned)
Tommaso Cortesi (16 Jan 1529 - 3 Mar 1533 Appointed, Bishop of Vaison)
Taddeo Pepoli, O.S.B. (3 Mar 1533 - 15 Jan 1535 Appointed, Bishop of Carinola)
Juan Canuti (15 Jan 1535 - 1545 Died)
Marco Antonio Falconi (17 Apr 1545 - 1556 Died)
Federico Fantuzzi (5 Jul 1557 - 1561 Died)
Alessandro Crivelli (10 Mar 1561 - 23 Jan 1568 Resigned)
Pietro Giacomo Malombra (23 Jan 1568 - 1573 Resigned)
Sebastiano Maffo (9 Mar 1573 - 1576 Died)
Giovanni Battista Ansaldo (24 Oct 1576 - 1578 Died)
Tarquinio Prisco (14 Nov 1578 - 1585 Died)
Cesare Nardo, O.F.M. Conv. (9 Sep 1585 - 1586 Died)
Properzio Resta, O.F.M. Conv. (5 Nov 1586 - 6 May 1601 Died)
Filippo Gesualdo, O.F.M. Conv. (15 Apr 1602 - 1619 Died)
Maurizio Ricci (8 Apr 1619 - 1627 Died)
Lorenzo Fei (29 Nov 1627 - Aug 1631 Died)
Francesco Gonzaga, C.R. (21 Feb 1633 - 17 Dec 1657 Appointed, Bishop of Nola)
Agazio di Somma (13 Jan 1659 - 28 Apr 1664 Appointed, Bishop of Catanzaro)
Girolamo Barzellini (21 Jul 1664 - 8 Apr 1688 Died)
Sebastiano Delli Frangi (9 Aug 1688 - Oct 1714 Died)
Bartolomeo Porzio (6 Apr 1718 - Nov 1719 Died)
Giovanni Andrea Tria (4 Mar 1720 - 23 Dec 1726 Appointed, Bishop of Larino)
Marco Antonio Raimundi (23 Dec 1726 - 22 Sep 1732 Died)
Carlo Ronchi (19 Dec 1732 - 9 Jan 1764 Died)
Franciscus Maria Trombini (9 Apr 1764 - 28 Jul 1785 Died)
Felice Antonio d’Alessandria (26 Mar 1792 Confirmed - 18 Jan 1802 Died)
Name Changed: 1818
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria
Gelasio Serao (4 Jun 1819 Confirmed - 1838 Died)
Niccola Golia (11 Jul 1839 Confirmed - 27 Apr 1873 Died)
Pietro Maglione (15 Jun 1874 - 18 Dec 1876 Appointed, Bishop of Capaccio e Vallo della Lucania)
Giuseppe Antonio Virdia, O.F.M. Conv. (12 Mar 1877 - 23 Feb 1903 Resigned)
Lorenzo Chieppa (22 Jun 1903 - 23 Jun 1909 Appointed, Bishop of Lucera)
Giovanni Scotti (21 Feb 1911 - 13 Dec 1918 Appointed, Archbishop of Rossano)
Giuseppe Antonio Caruso (10 Mar 1919 - 26 Aug 1927 Appointed, Bishop of Oppido Mamertina)
Eugenio Raffaele Faggiano, C.P. (15 Feb 1936 - 25 Sep 1956 Retired)
Orazio Semeraro (22 Mar 1957 - 30 Apr 1967 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Brindisi)
