Catellus of Castellammare

Saint Catellus of Castellammare was bishop of the city of Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples, in the ninth century, and is venerated as the main patron of the town.

His life is known from the account of an anonymous chronicler at the end of the ninth century and from the sources that tell of his friend Saint Antoninus of Sorrento. According to tradition, Antoninus came to Campania fleeing the Lombard invasions and reached Castellammare, where Catellus was bishop. Wishing to become a hermit, Catellus gave up his office and entrusted the episcopal ministry to Antoninus, withdrawing to Monte Aureo. Antoninus, wishing the hermit's life for himself, persuaded Catellus to return to his see and withdrew to the same mountain, to a natural cave. Catellus again resolved to go to the mountain and to attend to the cares of his diocese only from time to time. An apparition of the holy Archangel Michael is said to have urged the two to build a stone oratory, now called Monte San Angelo or Punta San Michele.

Later a priest of Stabia, Tibeius, accused him of witchcraft, and Catellus was held at Rome until a new pope released him. He returned to Stabia and devoted himself to enlarging the church he had helped to found. His cult was confirmed by the Sacred Congregation on 13 September 1729, and a chapel of San Catello stands in the cathedral of Castellammare. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 19 January (new style).