Archbishopric of Sardica

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The Roman Catholic (arch)bishopric of Sardica, with its episcopal see in the present Bulgarian capital Sofia, is in modern times only a titular see.

1 (Arch)diocesan history of Sardica
2 Council of Sardica
3 Modern Catholic jurisdiction in Sofia (former Sardica)
4 Sources and external links

[edit] (Arch)diocesan history of Sardica

Ancient Sardica remains a Roman Catholic titular metropolitan see in the former Roman province of Dacia Mediterranea. The true name of the city (now Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria) was Serdica, the city of the Serdi, a Thracian people defeated by Crassus in 29 BC and subjected to the Kingdom of Thrace, then a vassal state of republican Rome. When this kingdom was suppressed in 49 BC, the Serdi were included in the Roman Province of Thracia. Roman Emperor Trajan transformed the borough of the Serdi into a city which he called Ulpia Serdica. In 275 Aurelian caused Dacia beyond the Danube to be evacuated, and transplanted to Moesia and Roman Thracia the soldiers and colonists who were faithful to the Roman cause. The country occupied by these immigrants formed the new Province of Dacia, Sardica being included in this province (Homo, "Essai sur le règne de l'empereur Aurélien", pp. 313-21). Later, Diocletian divided Dacia into Dacia Ripensis and Dacia Mediterranea. Sardica was the civil and ecclesiastical metropolis of the latter. Gallienus established a mint at Sardica, and Constantine the Great, who was born in the region, contemplated making it his capital.

Ecclesiastically, Sardica belonged to the Patriarchate of Rome until 733, when it was annexed to the Patriarchate of Constantinople until 809. Upon the conversion of the Bulgarians to Christianity in 865, Sardica was one of the first cities which had an episcopal see. Until 1204 it was included in the Graeco-Bulgarian Patriarchate of Achrida, until 1393 in the Bulgarian Patriarchate of Tirnovo and until 1872 again in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Since then Sardica, which is now called Sophia, belongs to the national Church of Bulgaria.

The earliest known bishop is Protagenes, who assisted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325; the best known is Bonosus, who shortly afterwards attacked the virginity of the Blessed Virgin.

When it was captured by the Bulgars, they changed its name to Sredetz, later transformed by the Greeks into Sraditza and Triaditza. Again occupied by the 'Greek' Byzantines from 1018 to 1186, it enjoyed great prosperity; a section of the population was Paulician or Manichaean, heresies from both Catholic and (later) Orthodox points of view. After some years of troubles it again fell into the power of the Bulgars. Its present name of Sophia dates from the Middle Ages, though the precise date of its first use cannot be assigned; in the sixteenth century Sredetz and Sophia were used simultaneously. In 1382 the city was captured by the Ottoman Turks, and for more than four centuries it was the residence of the beglerbeg (governor general) of all Rumelia. In 1878 Sophia was chosen as the capital of the tributary Principality of Bulgaria, and since 1908 became the capital of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, later of the present republic.

[edit] Council of Sardica

The Council of Sardica was one of the series of councils called to adjust the doctrinal and other difficulties caused by the christological Arian heresy (from the Catholic and, later, Orthodox points of view), held most probably in 343. (For date see Hefele, French Tr., "Histoire des conciles", II, pt. II, 737-42, and Duchesne, "Hist. ancienne de l'Eglise", II, 215.) It was convoked by the Roman Emperors Constans and Constantius at the urgent entreaty of Pope Julius. Hosius of Cordova and other Western bishops, desirous of peace and hoping to secure a final judgment in the case of St. Athanasius and other bishops alternately condemned and vindicated by councils in the East and the West; desirous, also, of settling definitively the confusion arising from the many doctrinal formulx in circulation, suggested that all such matters should be referred to a general council. In order to make the council thoroughly representative, Sardica in Dacia (now Sofia, in Bulgaria), was chosen as the meeting place. Athanasius, driven from Alexandria by the Prefect Philadrius in 339, was summoned by the Emperor Constans from Rome, where he had taken the latter place he met Hosius, who was commissioned by the pope and the emperor to preside over the council, and whom he accompanied to Sardica. Pope Julius was represented by the priests Archidamus and Philoxenus, and the deacon Leo. Ninety-six Western bishops presented themselves at Sardica, those from the East were less numerous.

Being in the minority, the Eastern bishops decided to act as a body, and, fearing defections, they all lodged in the same place. On the ground of being unwilling to recognize Athanasius, Marcellus of Ancyra and Asclepas, who had been excommunicated in Eastern synods, they refused to sit in council with the Western bishops. Hosius of Cordova attempted to effect a compromise by inviting them to present privately to him their complaints against Athanasius, and by promising, in case Athanasius should be acquitted, to take him to Spain. These overtures failed. The Eastern bishops -- although the council had been called expressly for the purpose of reopening the case in regard to those who had been excommunicated -- defended their conduct on the fictitious plea that one council could not revise the decisions of another. They withdrew from Sardica and met at Philippopolis, where they composed an encyclical and a new creed, which they falsely dated from Sardica. The Western bishops, thus abandoned, examined the cases of Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas. No fresh investigation of charges against Athanasius was considered necessary, as these had already been rejected, and he and the other two bishops, who were permitted to present exculpatory documents, were declared innocent. In addition to this, censure was passed on the Easterns for having abandoned the council, and several of them were deposed and excommunicated.

The question of a new creed containing some additions of that of Nicxa was discussed, but although the forumlx had been drawn up, the bishops wisely decided to add nothing to the accepted symbol, and thus gave the Arians no pretext for saying that hitherto they had not been explicitly condemned. Though the form of the proposed creed was presented to the council, it was bit inserted in the encyclical addressed by the council to "all the bishops of the Catholic Church". Before separating, the bishops enacted several important canons, especially concerning the transfer and trial of bishops and appeals. These canons, with the other documents of the council, were sent to Pope Julius with a letter signed by the majority of the attending bishops. The council failed entirely to accomplish its purpose. The pacification of the Church was not secured, and the Eastern bishops grew bolder and more contumacious.

) called as an Ecumenical Council in 342, 343, or 347 in response to the Arian Heresy. Co-Augusii Constans and Constantius, the two remaining sons of Constantine worked together at the urging of Pope Julius in response to this heresy that not only divided the church, but the state as well. Constans, Augustus in Rome, favored the Nicene bishops while Constantius, Augustus in Constantinople, often supported Arian ones. To help insure equal representation to solve this divisive issue, Sardica (now Sofia in Bulgaria) was chosen as a location near the division between eastern and western portions of the Roman State. However, fearing domination of the council by Western bishops, many Eastern bishops left the council to hold another council in Philippopolis. As a result, the Council of Sardica failed to universally represent the church and is not one of the official Ecumenical Councils.

Sardica produced 21 canon. In addition to the attempt to resolve the Arian issue, other major points were:

Bishops should not attempt to recruit from diocese other than their own
Bishops should be permanent residents of their own diocese
Bishops should spend most of their time in their own diocese (not at the court in Rome)
Bishops should not be transferred to another diocese

[edit] Modern Catholic jurisdiction in Sofia (former Sardica)

A vicariate Apostolic was created here at an early date and confided to the Franciscans. In 1610 Rome reestablished -but now as a suffragan- the episcopal see of Sophia, which in 1643 was made archiepiscopal again. It was suppressed towards the end of the eighteenth century, because the Catholics felt persecuted by the Turks and had emigrated, mostly to imperial Austria-Hungary and - Russia. Relative peace was restored in 1835, and Rome confided the direction of the Catholics to the Redemptorists, under a vicar Apostolic who had not received episcopal consecration. The Redemptorists were replaced by the Capuchins in 1841, their superior being consecrated bishop in 1848.

In the early 20th century a titular archbishop was the head of this vicariate Apostolic. Sophia had 105,000 inhabitants, of whom a small number are Catholics. The Christian Brothers had a school there, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition three convents.