Patriarchate of Carthage
Encyclopedia
This is a list of bishops and archbishops of Carthage, often referred to as Primate proconsular Africa, Numidia, Mauritania and Tripolitania. Until the seventh century, the bishops are recognized by the Orthodox Church and The Roman Church as their own.
During the 3rd to the 7th century, the Bishop of Carthage has (unofficial) ecclesiastical primacy (as a Patriarch) over these suffragan provinces in Northern Africa:
From the 17th century, in the Catholic Roman Church, the Bishop of Carthage lay within the jurisdiction of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, what some call the Patriarchate of the West.
The episcopal see
largely became titular after the 7th century when the Exarchate of Africa
, a Byzantine
territory, fell to the Arab invasion. From the 17th century Carthage was under an apostolic vicariate
. This was suppressed in 1798 and was only restored in 1843.
In 1884 the see was restored with the rank of archdiocese, but in 1964 it was reduced to that of territorial prelature, with its name changed to "Tunis
". In 1995 the prelature became a diocese, followed by its elevation to an archdiocese in 2010.
The present Archbishop of Tunis is Maroun Elias Lahham, since 2005.
Bishops of Carthage
unknown; Suppressed in 1798 and restored in 1843
Prelate
During the 3rd to the 7th century, the Bishop of Carthage has (unofficial) ecclesiastical primacy (as a Patriarch) over these suffragan provinces in Northern Africa:
- Proconsular AfricaAfrica ProvinceThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...
- MauretaniaMauretaniaMauretania is a part of the historical Ancient Libyan land in North Africa. It corresponds to present day Morocco and a part of western Algeria...
Sitifensis - Imperial Mauretania
- NumidiaNumidiaNumidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
- Byzacena
- TripolitaniaTripolitaniaTripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...
From the 17th century, in the Catholic Roman Church, the Bishop of Carthage lay within the jurisdiction of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, what some call the Patriarchate of the West.
The episcopal see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
largely became titular after the 7th century when the Exarchate of Africa
Exarchate of Africa
The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy...
, a Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
territory, fell to the Arab invasion. From the 17th century Carthage was under an apostolic vicariate
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
. This was suppressed in 1798 and was only restored in 1843.
In 1884 the see was restored with the rank of archdiocese, but in 1964 it was reduced to that of territorial prelature, with its name changed to "Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
". In 1995 the prelature became a diocese, followed by its elevation to an archdiocese in 2010.
The present Archbishop of Tunis is Maroun Elias Lahham, since 2005.
Bishops of CarthageCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
- Epenetus of CarthageEpenetus of CarthageEpenetus or Epaentus , Bishop of Carthage.Epaentus was a convert to Christianity in Achaia. He later served as the Bishop of Carthage, an ancient city in North Africa. The Church remembers St. Epenetus on January 4 among the Seventy, and on July 30 with Apostles Silas and Silvanus, Crescens, and...
- Optatus (may actually be bishop of Thuburbo Minus instead)
- AgrippinusAgrippinus of CarthageAgrippinus was a bishop of Carthage at the close of the second and beginning of the third century. During his episcopacy, he dealt with the issue of how to treat Christian converts from schism or heresy. He called a synod of bishops of Numidia and Africa, probably around 215, which decided that...
(c. 197) - Cyrus
- Donatus I
- St. CyprianCyprianCyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
(249–258)- Felicissimus; anti-patriarch (251–?), supported by Antipope NovatianAntipope NovatianNovatian was a scholar, priest, theologian and antipope who held the title between 251 and 258. According to Greek authors, pope Damasus I and Prudentius gave his name as Novatus....
- Fortunatus; anti-patriarch, supported by Antipope NovatianAntipope NovatianNovatian was a scholar, priest, theologian and antipope who held the title between 251 and 258. According to Greek authors, pope Damasus I and Prudentius gave his name as Novatus....
- Maximus; anti-patriarch, supported by Antipope NovatianAntipope NovatianNovatian was a scholar, priest, theologian and antipope who held the title between 251 and 258. According to Greek authors, pope Damasus I and Prudentius gave his name as Novatus....
after withdrawing communion with Fortunatus.
- Felicissimus; anti-patriarch (251–?), supported by Antipope Novatian
- Carpophorus (258–?)
- Lucian
- MensuriusMensuriusMensurius was a bishop of Carthage in the early 300s during the early Christian Church.During the Christian persecution of Diocletian he evaded turning over sacred scriptures to the Roman authorities, but was nevertheless considered a traditor by Donatists...
(?–311) - CaecilianusCaecilianusCaecilianus, or Caecilian, was archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage in 311 AD. When archdeacon, he resolutely supported his bishop Mensurius in opposing the fanatical craving for martyrdom...
(311–c. 325)- Majorinus; anti-patriarch (311–315)
- Donatus II MagnusDonatus MagnusDonatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigra, became leader of a schismatic Christian sect in North Africa. He is believed to have died in exile around 355.-Life:...
; anti-patriarch (315–355; exiled 347)
- Gratus (c. 330's – 352)
- Parmenianus; anti-patriarch (355–391)
- Restitutus (352–373)
- Genethlius (373–?)
- St. Aurelius (391–?)
- Primian; anti-patriarch (391–393), 1st time
- Maximianus; anti-patriarch (393–394)
- Primian; anti-patriarch (394 – c. 400's), 2nd time
- Capreolus
- QuodvultdeusQuodvultdeusSaint Quodvultdeus was a fifth century church father and bishop of Carthage who was exiled to Naples. He was known to have been living in Carthage around 407 and became a deacon in 421 AD. He corresponded with Saint Augustine of Hippo, who served as Quodvultdeus' spiritual teacher...
(c. 434 – c. 454; fled 439) - St. Deogratias (c. 454–456)
- vacant (456–481)
- St. Eugenius (481–505; exiled 496)
- vacant (505–523)
- Boniface (c. 523 – c. 535)
- Repartatus (c. 535 – c. 553; banished 551)
- Primosus or Primasius (c. 553 – c. 565)
- Publianus (c. 581)
- Dominicus (c. 591)
- Fortunius (c. 632)
- Victor (c. 635)
- unknown
- Thomas (c. 1053)
- Cyriacus (c. 1076)
- unknown
Apostolic Vicar of Tunis, c. 1650–1884
- Jean le Vacher (1650–1683), from 1668 also Apostolic Vicar of AlgiersAlgiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
unknown; Suppressed in 1798 and restored in 1843
- Mgr. Sutter (1843–1881)
Archbishops of Carthage, 1884–1964
- Charles Martial Allemand LavigerieCharles LavigerieCharles Martial Allemand Lavigerie was a French cardinal, archbishop of Carthage and Algiers and primate of Africa.Born at Bayonne, he was educated at St Sulpice, Paris...
(1881–1892), archbishop from 1884 - Barthélemy Clément Combes (1893–1922)
- Alexis Lemaître (1922–1939)
- Charles-Albert Gounot (1939–1953)
- Paul-Marie Maurice Perrin (1953–1964)
PrelatePrelateA prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
of Tunis, 1964–1995
- Paul-Marie Maurice Perrin (1964–1965)
- Michel Callens (1965–1990)
- vacant (1990–1992)
- Fouad TwalFouad TwalFouad Twal is the Roman Catholic archbishop and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since June 2008.He was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1966. After his ordination he was the vicar of Ramallah. In 1972 he entered the Pontifical Lateran University where he studied for a doctorate in canon law. ...
(1992–1995)
See also
- CarthageCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
- CircumcellionsCircumcellionsThe circumcellions were bands of heretical Christian extremists in North Africa in the early- to mid-4th century. They preferred to be known as agonistici . They were initially concerned with remedying social grievances, but they became linked with the Donatist sect. They condemned property and...
- DonatistDonatistDonatism was a Christian sect within the Roman province of Africa that flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries. It had its roots in the social pressures among the long-established Christian community of Roman North Africa , during the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian...
- TertullianTertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
- Pelagian
- TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
- Roman Catholicism in TunisiaRoman Catholicism in TunisiaThe Roman Catholic Church in Tunisia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.-Archdiocese:...