Archdiocese of Messina

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(MESSINENSIS)

Located inSicily. The city is situated, in the shape of an amphitheatre, along the slope of the Hills of Neptune, on an inlet of the sea at the Strait of Messina, which separatesSicily from the peninsula. Its harbour, with its size and fine situation, is one of the most important inItaly after those ofGenoa and ofNaples. Nevertheless, the hopes entertained for its commerce, in view of the opening of the Suez Canal, were disappointed, for, between 1887 and 1894, the commerce of Messina decreased from 940,000 tons to 350,000 tons; still, in 1908, it grew again to 551,000 tons. The neighbouring seas are rich in coral, molluscs, and fish; and from the mountains are obtained calcic sulphate, alabaster, sulphates of argentiferous lead, antimony, iron, and copper. Messina is said to have been founded by some pirates from Cumæ, a very ancient Greek colony, and to have received from its founders the name of Zancle (sickle) on account of the semicircular shape of the port. In 735 a colony of Messenians was taken there by Gorgos, a son of King Aristomenes, thebrave but unfortunate defender of the Messenians against the Spartans. Thereafter, the population of the city was increased by fugitives from Chalcis,Samos, and Eubœa, who had escaped from the Persian invasion; they became preponderant in the town and made it join the Ionian League. In 493 Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, also a Messenian colony, drove the Samians from Zancle, took the town, and called it Messana (the a of the Doric dialect, which becomes n in the Ionic coming later to be pronounced as English e). In 426 the city was retaken by the Ionians under the Athenian Laches, who, however, lost it in 415; an attempt of another Athenian, Nicias, to recover it failed. In consequence of the rivalry of the Athenians and the Carthaginians for the possession ofSicily, Messina was pillaged and destroyed by the Carthaginians in 396, but was rebuilt by Dionysius. In 312 the town was taken by Agathocles, and at his death the Campanian mercenaries of his army, called Mamertines, took possession of the city, and established there a military republic; having been defeated by Hiero II near Mylæ (Milazzo) in 269, and then besieged in the town itself, a part of them sought the assistance of the Carthaginians, and a part that of the Romans. The Carthaginians under Hanno were the first to arrive, but in 264 the consul, Appius Claudia Caudex, took the city, repelling Carthaginians andSyracusans. This brought about the Punic Wars. Other events of the pre-Christian history of Messina are the victory of Piso over the slaves in 133; and the naval victory ofAgrippa over Pompey in 36. In the Gothicwars Messina had a considerable part; while, inA.D. 831, it fell into the hands of theArabs. In the Norman conquest ofSicily, Messina was naturally the basis of operations. In 1038 the Byzantine general, George Maniakes, assisted by the Normans, captured the town, but it was lost again, on the recall of that general. In 1060 Count Roger made his first expedition, and in the following year was master of Messina, which from that time followed the fortunes of theKingdom of Naples. There was a serious revolt againstFrederick II in 1232; and in 1282 Messina also had its "Vespers", and on that account was besieged by King Charles II, who was, however, compelled to retreat, and leftSicily to the King ofAragon. In 1676, the Messenians rebelled against Spanish domination, and were assisted by a French fleet, sent byLouis XIV; Viscount Duquesne obtained a naval victory over theSpaniards, but soon a royal orderobliged the French to leave the city. Messina had a part in thewars for the union ofItaly: it was bombarded in 1848; and in 1860, after a long resistance was taken by Garibaldi.

The city has often been a prey to earthquakes, the most disastrous of which were those of 1783 and of 1908; the latter, on 28 December of that year, destroyed Messina almost entirely. The most beautiful of the palaces and of the churches were overthrown, among them thecathedral, a structure of threenaves, containing six great columns ofEgyptian marble that came from the ruins of Cape Faro (the ancient Pelorum Promontorium); the chief entrance of this temple was a jewel of Roman art, rich in little columns, fretwork, spirals,bas-reliefs, and statuettes; the marblepulpit, a work of Gagini, was in the shape of achalice; the tribune was adorned withmosaics of the time ofFrederick II; and the walls were decorated with frescoes and oilpaintings of great masters. The residence of the canons, and thesacristy also, hadpaintings by such masters as Salvo d'Antonio, Quagliata, Rodriguez, Catalano, Alibrandi, Fiammingo, etc. On thecathedral square, before thefaçade of theFranciscanconvent, was a monumental fountain, the work of Gian Angelo da Montorsoli (1551). The most beautiful church of Messina is that of the Madonna of Montevergine; other interesting churches are those of San Francesco dei Mercadanti; the church andmonastery of San Giorgio with pictures by Guercino and by other masters; Santa Maria dell' Alto where is preserved the only known picture by Cardillo (about 1200); the church of San Francesco d'Assisi, built in theGothic style, but disfigured in 1721; lastly, the churches of San Nicolò and of San Domenico, the latter containing the mausoleum of thefamily of Cicala by Montorsoli and a fine Pietà in marble. The episcopal palace, spared by the last earthquake, and the adjoiningseminary, are interesting buildings; likewise, the city hail, with its Fountain of Neptune by Montorsoli, and theuniversitydating from 1549, which had a most valuablelibrary of 3000editiones principes, 241manuscripts, and 10 parchments with miniaturepaintings, a gallery of pictures, and a collection ofcoins, all of which is yet buried under the ruins. Thehospital of La Pietà and the fortifications, constructed mostly underCharles V, were ornaments of the city.

According to the legend,Christianity was brought hither by Saints Peter and Paul, and there is still preserved at Messina a letter attributed to theBlessed Virgin, which, it is claimed, was written by her to the Messenians whenOur Lady heard of their conversion bySt. Paul. St. Bachiritis or Bacchilus isvenerated as the firstBishop of Messina. There is record of severalbishops ofMessene in the fourth and fifth centuries, but it is not known whether it be Messina, or Messene inGreece, to which reference is made; Eucarpus, a contemporary of Pope Symmachus (498), is the firstBishop of Messina of known date; thebishops who are known to have followed him were Felix (about 600), Peregrinus (649), Benedict (682), Gaudiosus (787), and Gregory (868); the latter was for some time a follower of Photius. Nothing is known of theepiscopal see during the time of theSaracen occupation. In 1090, Roger established there, asbishop, Robert, who built thecathedral. Under Bishop Nicholas (1166) Messina was made anarchbishopric. Among otherbishops of this see may be mentioned the Englishman, Richard Palmer (1182); Archbishop Lando, often an intermediary betweenGregory IX andFrederick II; Francesco Fontana (1288), expelled by the Messenians; Guidotto dei Tabiati (1292), whose mausoleum was one of the works of art of thecathedral; Cardinal Antonio Cerdani (1447); in 1473 the chapter elected theBasilianarchimandrite, Leontios, and he not being acceptable to thepope or to the king, the friar, Jacob da Santa Lucia, was appointed in his stead, but was not received; Cardinal Pietro Sveglie (1510), who had served on several occasions as pontificallegate; Cardinal Innocenzo Cibo (1538); Cardinal Gianandrea de Mercurio (1550), who had a controversy with the Greekbishop, Pamphilius, the latter claimingjurisdiction over the Greekpriests of the archdiocese; Andrea Mastrilli (1618), convoked manysynods, and rebuilt the episcopal palace and theseminary; theDominican, Tommaso Moncada (1743), who at the same time wasPatriarch ofJerusalem. TheArchbishop of Messina is also Archimandrite of San Salvatore; thisconvent ofGreek Monks of St. Basil was founded by Count Roger in 1094, and itsarchimandrite hadjurisdiction over all theBasilianmonasteries of the kingdom, of which there were forty-four, as well as over manyparishes. In 1421, the archimandritate was secularized and was givenin commendam to secularprelates, of whomBessarion was one. In time themonastery fell into decadence; a fortification was erected on its site (1538), and themonks moved to the church of La Misericordia.Urban VIII made the archimandritate and its territoryimmediately subject to theHoly See, andLeo XIII in 1883 united it with the Archdiocese of Messina. The collegiate church ofSanta Maria del Graffeo, called the "Cattolica", is noteworthy in Messina: the so-called Græco-Latin Rite is used there, its characteristics being a combination of Latin vestments, unleavened bread, etc., with the Greek language: on solemn occasions, the Epistle and the Gospel are read, first in Latin and then in Greek. In certain functions, the canons of thecathedral and those of the "Graffeo" officiate together, either at the latter church or at thecathedral. Theclergy of the "Graffeo" have at their head a protopope who is under thejurisdiction of thearchbishop. Formerly, theGreek Rite was in use in other churches of Messina, introduced there probably during the Byzantine domination. The archdiocese and the Abbey of San Salvatore together had 179parishes, with 250,000 inhabitants, 22religious houses of men, and 26 ofwomen. Theseminary was uninjured by the earthquake, and since then theJesuits reopened acollege. There is aCatholic journal that appears three times each week. Within the territory of the archdiocese is theprœlatura nullius of Santa Lucia del Melo, which has 7parishes, with nearly 15,000 inhabitants. The suffragansees of Messina are those of Lipari,Nicosia, andPatti.

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