Earliest bishops

It is said that a Domninus (or Domnicius) was Bishop of Catania and was present at the Council of Ephesus (431); the Acts of the council, however, show that he was bishop of Coliaeum (Cotyaeum, Cotyaion) in Phrygia, not bishop of Catania.^[7]

A genuine bishop, Fortunatus, was twice sent with Bishop Ennodius of Pavia by Pope Hormisdas to Emperor Anastasius I to effect the union of the Eastern Churches with Rome (514, 516). Bishops Leo I appear in the correspondence of Gregory the Great. In 730 Bishop James the Confessor suffered martyrdom for his defence of images. In 750, or thereabouts, Sabino was Bishop of Catania.^[8] His successor, Saint Leo II of Catania, was known as a wonder-worker (thaumaturgus).

Bishop Euthymius was at first an adherent of the Patriarch Photius, but in the Eighth General Council approved the restoration of Ignatius as patriarch. John of Ajello, who died in the 1169 Sicily earthquake, won a contested episcopal election against William of Blois in 1167.

In the 9th century, while still a Greek city, Catania became suffragan to the archdiocese of Monreale.

Under the Arabs and the Normans

From c. 827 to 1071 Catania was subject to the Arab (Saracen) occupation of the island of Sicily.^[9]

In 1169 an eruption of Mount Etna completely destroyed Catania, with a loss of life of some 15,000 persons. The Bishop of Catania, Ioannes de Agello, was among the dead.^[10]

On 7 July 1274 Pope Gregory X wrote to the Bishop of Syracuse that he had received information that the Bishop of Catania (Angelo Boccamazza), along with his cousin Bartolomeo Romano and two nephews, had attacked a Franciscan convent at Castro Orsino and destroyed its buildings; the Bishop of Syracuse was ordered to investigate, and if the charges were true, he was to excommunicate the offending parties.^[11]

In 1409 a severe earthquake reduced the monastery of San Niccolò l'Arena to ruins.^[12]

Bishop Bellomi (1450–1472) petitioned Pope Nicholas V that the Cathedral Chapter of Catania should include the dignities of the Archdeacon, Prior, Cantor, the Dean, and the Treasurer. Papal permission was granted on 12 June 1453.^[13] There were twelve primary Canons and twelve secondary Canons.^[14] Pope Pius V (1566–1572) abolished the dignity of Archdeacon. Originally the Canons were all members of a monastic community and followed the Rule of St. Benedict (hence the office of Prior),^[15] but Bishop Vincenzo Cutelli (1577-1589) obtained permission from Pope Gregory XIII on 9 February 1578 to convert the Chapter into a corporation of secular priests.^[16] Bishop Ottavio Branciforte (1638-1646) revived the dignity of Archdeacon in April 1639, and appointed his brother Luigi Branciforte, Doctor in utroque iure (Civil and Canon Law) to the dignity.^[17]

On 11 March 1669 a major fissure opened up on the southeast side of Mt. Etna, some ten miles from Catania, and sent lava in the direction of the city. The stream passed along the walls of the city and reached the sea, but at the beginning of May fresh supplies of lava overtopped the walls of Catania and destroyed the monastery of the Benedictines. The vineyards of the Jesuits, who staffed a college in Catania, were also destroyed. By mid-May three quarters of Catania was surrounded by lava, and several streams entered the city. Fourteen towns and villages between the volcano and Catania were obliterated, leaving only the tower of a ruined church visible.^[18]

From 1679 to 1818, the bishop of Catania was the Great Chancellor of the University of Catania.^[19] The University had been founded in 1444 by King Alfonso I of Sicily, and was under the administration of the Senate of Catania,^[20] with the supervision of the Viceroy of Sicily.^[21] In 1556 the Jesuits established a secondary school ('college') in Catania.

On 9 January 1693^[22] a major earthquake destroyed the city of Catania and killed eighteen thousand people.^[23] Only a part of the cathedral and one house survived.^[24] Another earthquake struck the ruins of Catania at the end of September 1693.^[25]

In 1859 the diocese of Catania was made an archiepiscopal see, immediately subject to the Holy See.^[26]

Bishops

Archbishops

Coadjutor archbishops

• Emilio Ferrais (1925-1928)
• Guido Luigi Bentivoglio, O. Cist. (1949-1952)
• Domenico Picchinenna (1971-1974)

Auxiliary bishops

• Antonio Maria Trigona (1806-1817), appointed Archbishop of Messina
• Francesco di Paola Berretta (1828-?)
• Giovanni Fortunato Paternò (1823-1834)
• Pietro Gravina Luzzena (1836-1855)
• Antonio Caff (1882-1895)
• Emilio Ferrais (1911-1925), appointed Coadjutor here
• Pio Vittorio Vigo (1981-1985), appointed Bishop of Nicosia