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THE ITALO-GREEKS IN THE PAST
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Catholic writings.[1] At the time of the Council of Florence (1439) Athanasius Kalkeophilos was Abbot of the Monastery of S Maria del Patire. At the council he argued vigorously against the schismatics of Constantinople. Then, apparently, wishing not even to share their rite, when as reward for his services he was made Bishop of Gerace, he turned Latin (1467).[2]

At Bova the first Latin bishop was Julius Staurieno, a Cypriote who obtained the see from Pius V in 1571. At once he began to undermine the Byzantine rite in his diocese; he himself celebrated a Roman Mass for the first time in his cathedral in January, 1573. The people revolted and sent a petition to Rome. But this time the Pope (Gregory XIII, 1572-1585) confirmed the change of rite. There remain vestiges of the older order in the title of the cathedral of Bova, S Maria dell' Isodia,[3] of other Churches such as that of "della Teotoco," of St Constantine the Emperor equal-to-the-Apostles, and others.[4] Bova is one of the chief places in Italy where Greek is still spoken (p. 105).

Going North from Bova we come to the famous city of Rossano, once a great centre of Byzantinism in Italy. Here was the monastery of S Maria del Patire;[5] from Rossano came St Neilos of Grottaferrata.[6] We have seen how there came to be both a Latin archbishop and a Byzantine Metropolitan of Rossano (p. 97). In 1265 Pope Clement IV (1265-1268) received a petition to grant bulls to a Greek bishop, signed by "the Chapter of Greek Canons of the Church of Rossano in Calabria." The archbishop so elected signs "Ego Angelus, Rossanensis archiepiscopus græcus."[7] After the Council of Florence (1439) the Byzantine see came to an end, and with it the rite. Matthew Saraceni, O.F.M., was made Archbishop.[8] In 1461 he abolished the Byzantine rite, as the inscription on his tomb testifies.[9] There remained only the ceremony

  1. "de Consensu," ii, cap. 17 (cols. 824-840); an account of Barlaam's life also; see further Krumbacher, "Byzant. Liter." (2nd edition), pp. 100, 102.
  2. Rodotà, "del Rito greco," i, 418-419; Ughelli, "Italia sacra" (2nd edition), ix, 393-399.
  3. "Isodia" is for τὰ εἰσόδια (τῆς θεοτόκου εἰς τὸν ναὸν), the Presentation of our Lady in the Temple.
  4. Rodotà, i. 419-423; Ughelli, ix, 338-342.
  5. P. 127.
  6. P. 146.
  7. Ughelli, ix, 300-301.
  8. He seems to have been an absurd person, according to Rodotà's account (i. 426-428).
  9. "Hanc quam cernis ille cuius laus est perennis
    "Transtulit in Latinum, ecclesiam, de græco ad cultum diuinum."