Ryahovo
| Ryahovo Ряхово | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
  Ryahovo Location in Bulgaria | |
| Coordinates: 43°59′20″N 26°14′38″E / 43.989°N 26.244°ECoordinates: 43°59′20″N 26°14′38″E / 43.989°N 26.244°E | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Province | Rousse |
| Municipality | Slivo Pole |
Ryahovo (Bulgarian: Ряхово) is a village in north(east)ern Bulgaria, and as Ancient Ap(p)iaria a former bishopric, remaining a Latin Catholic titular see.
It is located in the municipality of Slivo Pole in Rousse Province.
As of February 2011, it had a population of 1,637 inhabitants.
History
- The village was created as Appiaria (Greek: Ἀππιάρια) under Roman Emperor Vespasian as a fortress-castle on the banks of the Danube, which was probably destroyed by seventh century Bulgarian invaders.
- It was also the place where the Romanians launched their Flămânda Offensive against Bulgaria on September 29, 1916.
- Apiaria Bight on Brabant Island in the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica was named after it.
Ecclesiastical History
Appiaria was important enough in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior (=Secunda) to become a suffragan diocese of the capital's Metropolitan Archdiocese of Marcianopolis, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
It has two documented incumbents :
- Lupicinus, mentioned in a letter of Saint John Chrysostomos to Pope Innocent I, circa 403
- Martialis, who signed the letter of the episcopate of Moesia Secunda to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian in 458 after the lynching by Coptic mobs of Patriarch Proterius of Alexandria.
The see isn't mentioned in the Notitia Episcopatuum by pseudo-Epifanius, edited under Emperor Heraclius I (circa 640), probably having ceased after the ruinous Bulgarian invasion.[1]
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored (in 1920?) as Titular bishopric of Apiaria (Latin until 1925)) / Appiaria (Italian from the start, Latin since 1925) / Appiaren(sis) (Latin adjective).
It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, including an Eastern Catholic :
- Bonifatius Sauer (신상원 보니파시오), Missionary Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien (O.S.B.) (1920.08.25 – death 1950.02.07), first as Apostolic Vicar of Wonsan (North Korea) (1920.08.25 – 1940.01.12), later as Abbot Ordinary of Territorial Abbacy of Tŏkugen (North Korea) (1940.01.12 – 1950.02.07), also Apostolic Administrator of the renamed (above) Apostolic Vicariate of Kanko (Hamheung, North Korea) (1940.01.12 – 1950.02.07)
- Joseph Lennox Federal (1951.02.05 – 1960.03.31) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) (1951.02.05 – 1958.05.01); next promoted Coadjutor Bishop of Salt Lake City (1958.05.01 – 1960.03.31), succeeding as Bishop of Salt Lake City (1960.03.31 – retired 1980.04.22), died 2000
- Thomas Austin Murphy (1962.05.23 – death 1991.11.17) as Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore (Maryland, USA) (1962.05.23 – retired 1984.05.29) and as emeritate
- Vasile Bizău (2007.10.27 – 2011.06.11) as Bishop of Curia of the Romanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite (2007.10.27 – 2011.06.11); later Eparch (Bishop) of Maramureş of the Romanians (Romania) (2011.06.11 – ...)
- Ernesto Giobando, Jesuit Order (S.J.) (2014.03.05 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
See also
References
- ↑ Raymond Janin, La hiérarchie ecclésiastique dans le diocèse de Thrace, in Revue des études byzantines, Vol. 17, 1959, p. 140-141
Sources and external links
- Bibliography
- Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 428
- Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 1225-1226
- Daniele Farlati e Jacopo Coleti, Illyricum Sacrum, vol. VIII, Venice 1819, pp. 110–111