The former Italian Catholic diocese of Nicotera-Tropea, in Calabria, existed until 1986. In that year it was united into the diocese of Mileto, to form the diocese of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea. It was a suffragan diocese of the archbishopric of Reggio di Calabria.
History
Nicotera, the ancient Medama, is in the Province of Catanzaro; it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1783.
Its first known bishop was Proculus, to whom, with others, a letter of Pope Gregory I was written in 599; the bishop had been absent from his diocese for some time, doing penance for various crimes and misdemeanors. In 596, Pope Gregory had written to the bishop of Vibo (Valentia) that the bishop of Nicotera had been ordered to do penance, and that the bishop of Vibo should appoint a priest to conduct a formal visitation of the diocese of Nicotera. The pope also wrote in 599, to the subdeacon Sabinus, his Regionarius, that Bishop Proculus, having done his penance, had returned.
The Diatyposis of the Emperor Leo VI (c. 900) lists the Greek Metropolitan of Reggio and his suffragans: the dioceses of Vibona, Tauriana, Locri, Rossano, Squillace, Tropea, Amantea, Cotrone, Cosenza, Nicotera, Bisignano, Nicastro and Cassano.
In 1304, Nicotera was deprived of its bishopric, because of the murder of its bishop, and the cathedral was reduced to the status of a parish church. Its diocesan territory was handed over to the diocese of Mileto. On 16 August 1392, Pope Boniface IX issued a bull which reestablished the diocese of Nicotera.
In 1565, Archbishop Gaspare del Fosso held a provincial synod in Reggio. Among the suffragans in attendance was Bishop Giulio Cesare de Gennaro (1542–1573) of Nicotera.
Under Bishop Luca Antonio Resta (1578–1582), the diocese of Nicotera held its first diocesan synod.
In 1638, under Bishop Carlo Pinto (1616–1644), the city was pillaged by the Ottoman Turks.
Bishop Pinto, however, held a diocesan synod. Bishop Antonio Mansi (1703–1713) held a diocesan synod. In 1772, Bishop Francesco Franco (1745–1777) presided over a diocesan synod.
The seminary of the diocese of Nicotera was established by Bishop Ercole Coppola (1651–1658)
Bishop Domenico Taccone-Gallucci (1889-1908) was a distinguished researcher, author, and historian of the churches of Calabria.
Post-Napoleonic restoration
Following the extinction of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the Congress of Vienna authorized the restoration of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Since the French occupation had seen the abolition of many Church institutions in the Kingdom, as well as the confiscation of most Church property and resources, it was imperative that Pope Pius VII and King Ferdinand IV reach agreement on restoration and restitution. Ferdinand, however, was not prepared to accept the pre-Napoleonic situation, in which Naples was a feudal subject of the papacy. Neither was he prepared to accept the large number of small dioceses in his kingdom; following French intentions, he demanded the suppression of fifty dioceses. Lengthy, detailed, and acrimonious negotiations ensued. On 17 July 1816, King Ferdinand issued a decree, in which he forbade the reception of any papal document, including without prior reception of the royal exequatur. This meant that prelates could not receive bulls of appointment, consecration, or installation without the king's permission.
A concordat was finally signed on 16 February 1818, and ratified by Pius VII on 25 February 1818. Ferdinand issued the concordat as a law on 21 March 1818. The re-erection of the dioceses of the kingdom and the ecclesiastical provinces took more than three years. The right of the king to nominate the candidate for a vacant bishopric was recognized, as in the Concordat of 1741, subject to papal confirmation (preconisation). On 27 June 1818, Pius VII issued the bull De Ulteriore in which the metropolitan archdiocese of Reggio Calabria was restored, and among its suffragans were included the dioceses of Nicotera and Tropea. The dioceses of Nicotera and Tropea, however, were united aeque personaliter, with the bishop of the two separate dioceses to reside in Tropea.
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. These considerations applied to Mileto and to Nicotero e Tropea.