The Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria-Bova is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Calabria, southern Italy[1]. It was created in 1986, when historic archdiocese of Reggio Calabria was combined with the diocese of Bova.[2]
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Through a misinterpretation of Acts 27:13, St. Paul was said to have preached the Gospel at Reggio Calabria, and to have consecrated his companion, St. Stephen, bishop. The first bishop known is Mark, legate of Pope Sylvester at the Council of Nicaea (325).
When all Southern Italy was united to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Reggio became a metropolitan see with thirteen suffragans, and followed the Greek Rite, which was changed to the Gallican Rite after the Norman Conquest; Archbishop Ricciulli adopted the Roman Rite in 1580. The Greek Rite, however, remained in force in the church of Santissima Maria della Cattolica, built by King Roger, and governed by a protopope with a numerous Greek clergy. Questions of jurisdiction caused frequent controversies with the archbishop. About 1600 Archbishop Annibale degli Afflitti suppressed the Greek Rite in that church, and the entire diocese now follows the Roman Rite.
Other bishops:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.