Archdiocese of Justiniana Prima
Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima was an Eastern pre-Great Schism Christian archbishopric in the Roman province of Dacia mediterranea.
History
The archdiocese was established in 535 AD by Emperor Justinian I, in his presumed home-town of Justiniana Prima (today in Leskovac, southern Serbia).
The establishment is mentioned in Justinian's own Novel XI from 535, when he promotes the Metropolitan to an Archbishop, independent from the Archbishop of Thessalonica.[1] The establishment is seen as part of the feud between Justinian and the Archbishop of Eastern Illyricum, who was a papal vicar.
Its last mention is in 602, amid the Slav raids on the Balkans.
Administration
Its cathedral archiepiscpoal see was at Justiniana Prima.
The first Archbishop received canonical jurisdiction over the following Byzantine provinces (According to Novella 11):[2]
- Dacia mediterranea
- Dacia ripensis
- Moesia secunda
- Byzantine Dardania
- Praevalitana
- Macedonia secunda
- Part of Pannonia secunda (Diocese of Dacia)
But by 545, in the Novella 131, Macedonia secunda is missing.[2]
Dioceses
- Bishopric of Niš, seat at Naissopolis (Niš, Serbia)
Archbishops
- Catelianus (Catellian), Metropolitan becoming first Archbishop in 535 AD
- Johannes, fl. 595
Successor titles
Orthodox
The Archbishopric of Ochrid was seen as a successor of the old Archbishopric. The bishop John Komnenos, nephew of emperor Alexios I Komnenos, resurrected the title of Archbishop of Justiniana Prima in 1143 for his own use.[3]
Catholic titular see
It is one of the titular sees listed in the Annuario Pontificio.[4]
It has had the following incumbents, all of the archiepiscoapl (intermediary) rank:
- Giovanni Panico (1935.10.17 – 1962.03.19) (later Cardinal)
- Aurelio Sabattani (1965.06.24 – 1983.02.02) (later Cardinal)
- Édouard Gagnon, Sulpicians (P.S.S.) (1983.07.07 – 1985.05.25), (later Cardinal
- Jean-Claude Périsset (1998.11.12 – ...), Apostolic Nuncio (papal ambassador) emeritus to Germany
References
Sources and External links
- (ref name OCC)The challenge of our past: studies in Orthodox Canon law and Church history
- Byzantinoslavica
- (ref name DMMS) Dacia Mediterranea and Macedonia Secunda in the 6th century
- Florin Curta, The making of the slavs