Gratiana, Africa
- See Gratian for namesakes
Gratiana was an Ancient city and bishopric in Roman Africa, which remains a latin catjolic titular see;
History
Gratiana, in modern Tunisia, was among the many towns of sufficient importance in the Roman province of Byzacena to become a suffragan of Carthage, but would completely fade, plausibly at the 7Th century advent of Islam.
Three of its bishops are historically documented :
- The Donatist schismatic Victor intervened at the Council of Carthage in 411, which opposed Catholic bishops (Gratiana had none then) and Donatists on that very heresy
- Bonifatius took part in the Council of Carthage called in 484 by king Huneric of the Vandal kingdom, after which he was exiled like most Catholic bishops
- Gennarus participated in the Council of Carthage against the heresy Monothelitism in 641.
Titular see
The dicese was nominally restored in 1933 as Titular bishopric]] of Gratiana (Latin) / Graziana (Curiate Italian) / Gratianen(sis) (Latin adjective)
It has had the following incumbents, albeit so far none of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank but all archiepiscopal :
- Titular Archbishop Felice Pirozzi (Italian) (1961.10.28 – death 1975.07.25) as papal diplomat : Apostolic Delegate to Madagascar (1960.09.23 – 1967.01.09), Apostolic Nuncio (ambassador) to Venezuela (1967.01.09 – 1970.10.17) and as President of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1970.10.17 – 1975.07.25)
- Titular Archbishop Luigi Conti (Italian) (1975.08.01 – 2015.12.05) also as papal diplomat : Apostolic Delegate to Antilles (1975.08.01 – 1980.02.09), Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti (1975.08.01 – 1983.11.19), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Iraq (1983.11.19 – 1987.01.17), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Kuwait (1983.11.19 – 1987.01.17), Apostolic Nuncio to Ecuador (1987.01.17 – 1991.04.12), Apostolic Nuncio to Honduras (1991.04.12 – 1999.05.15), Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey (1999.05.15 – 2001.08.08), Apostolic Nuncio to Turkmenistan (1999.05.15 – 2001.08.08), Apostolic Nuncio to Libya (2001.08.08 – 2003.06.05) and Apostolic Nuncio to Malta (2001.08.08 – 2003.06.05)
- Titular Archbishop Francisco Escalante Molina (Venezuelan) (2016.03.19 – ...) again as papal diplomat : Apostolic Nuncio to Republic of Congo(-Brazzaville) (2016.03.19 – ...) and Apostolic Nuncio to Gabon (2016.05.21 – ...).
See also
- List of Catholic dioceses in Tunisia
- Gratianopolis name-related cities, including fellow (titular) sees
Sources and external links
- Bibliography
- J. Mesnage, L'Afrique chrétienne, Paris 1912, p. 201
This article is issued from
Wikipedia.
The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike.
Additional terms may apply for the media files.