Originally erected in the 4th century as the ancient Archdiocese of Dardania, the archdiocese was a bulwark of the Roman Empire, as it was on the primary north/south route from Athens to Sirmium. With the great troubles in the Empire, the Archdiocese remained in the Empire long after the fall of Rome. After suffering from an earthquake in 518, the metropolitan cathedral was rebuilt along with most of Skopje, by the Emperor Justinian. In the 7th century, as the Roman power declined in the Eastern Empire, the Slavs invaded and destroyed the city. No bishops are known from 553 to 882. After being rebuilt, Skopje switched hands several times in the power struggle between the Romans and the Bulgarians, before the eventual collapse of the Bulgarian empire. Until 1014, the Archdiocese was in the hands of the Bulgarians, when the Byzantines finally crushed Tsar Samoil, and reincorporated them within the empire. There were Catholic bishops in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries but Skopje remained Byzantine until 1282 when it was conquered by Serbia. After the arrival of the Ottomans and the defeat of the Serbs in the battle of Kosovo, Skopje was conquered by Ottomans in 1392. It would be three centuries before Catholic see would be revived again: it was a titular see from 1346 to 1656. In 1656, after the defeat of the Turks in the battle of Vienna, the city was raided and taken by the Austrians, and the archdiocese was finally restored and renamed the Archdiocese of Skopje. This marked a brief interlude, as the Turks pressed them back and the see was suppressed once again under the Turks. The archbishops had to reside in the Albanian mountains. The modern history of the diocese begins with the appointment of Matej Krasniqi as the first resident archbishop of Skopje in over 500 years of Ottoman rule. Since then, there has been an unbroken string of bishops, who resided in Uskup from 1860. Ottoman rule ended in 1912, when Skopje came under the rule of Kingdom of Serbia. In order to regulate status of Catholic Church, government of Serbia concluded official Concordat with Holy See on 24 June 1914. By the Second Article of Concordat, it was decided that "Diocese of Skopje" shall be created as a regular bishopric, and placed under jurisdiction of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade that was about to be created. Because of the breakout of First World War, those provisions could not be implemented, and only after 1918 new arrangements were made. In 1924, after the devastation of the First World War, the archdiocese was downgraded to a diocese. In 1969, the diocese was merged with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren, and became the Diocese of Skopje-Prizren. In 2000, they were split once again, as the portion that was formerly the diocese of Prizren became the Apostolic Administration of Prizren, and the Diocese of Skopje returned to its former name.
Ordinaries
Archdiocese of Scupi (Dardania)
Daco †
Paregorio †
Ursilio †
Giovanni †
Reestablished in 13th century
Marino †
Giovanni †
Giovanni, O.P. †
Federico de Retersberck, O.F.M. †
Giovanni Kaiode, O.E.S.A. †
Giovanni di Siberg, O.Cist. †
Ermanno †
Antonio di Teramo, O.F.M. †
Roberto Towta, O.Cist. †
Alberto †
Giovanni Heldin, O.P. †
Benedetto Warsalunus †
Stefano Zacalnizi †
Francesco de Andreis †
Giacinto Macripodari
Archdiocese of Skopje
Andrea Bogdani, first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Skopje
