Castra Severiana was an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

Roman-era town of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had been part of the Kingd ...

, in North Africa during

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. The town in modern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

has been tentatively identified with ruins at Sidi-Ali-Ben-Joub (Chanzy) or Lalla Marnia. Roman Empire - Mauretania Caesariensis (125 AD)

History

Roman Empire

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

Castra Severiana was a Roman town, of the

. The town was excavated in the 1940s.

Late antiquity

From

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s we know that Castra Severiana was part of the small

Kingdom of Altava The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman ...

, a Christian–

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

kingdom that existed around

Tamazgha Tamazgha (Berber: Tamazɣa, Arabic: تامازغا) is a fictitious entity and toponym in Berber languages denoting the lands traditionally inhabited by Berbers coined in the 1970s by the Berber Academy in Paris. The region claims the geographic ...

from the 4th century AD until the

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...

Ecclesiastical history

The town was also the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of the diocese of Castra Severiana, an

Christian

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

in the papal sway, that flourished in late antiquity Its only historically documented bishop was Faustus, mentioned in 484. It did not last long after the seventh century

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Castra Severiana (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Castraseverianensis (Latin adjective) and

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

.''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' (Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides names ...

2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819–1013 It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, do far of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank: * José Maritano,

Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME ( la, Pontificium Institutum pro Missionibus Exteris; it, Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere) is a society of secular priests and lay people who dedicate their lives to missionary activitie ...

(P.I.M.E.) (1965.12.29 – 1978.05.26) as last

Bishop-Prelate In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Ch ...

Territorial Prelature of Macapá A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

(Brazil) (1965.12.29 – 1980.10.30); next (see promoted) first Bishop of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The c ...

(Brazil) (1980.10.30 – retired 1983.08.31), died 1992 * Paul Dacoury-Tabley (1979.04.09 – 1994.12.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Abidjan (

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

) (1979.04.09 – 1994.12.19), Bishop of

Grand-Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial c ...

(Côte d'Ivoire) (1994.12.19 – retired 2010.03.27) * Evarist Pinto (2000.02.17 – 2004.01.05) (born India) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Karachi The Archdiocese of Karachi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in India. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese ...

(Pakistan) (2000.02.17 – 2004.01.05) and

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Karachi (2002.11.20 – 2004.01.05); next Metropolitan Archbishop of Karachi (2004.01.05 – retired 2012.01.25) * Vasyl Semeniuk (2004.02.10 – 2006.10.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) (2004.02.10 – 2006.10.19), also

Patriarchal Administrator Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...

of eparchy Kamyanets-Podilsky of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (2015.12.11 – ...); next 'last' Eparch (Bishop) of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (2006.10.19 – 2011.12.22), (see) promoted first Metropolitan Archbishop of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (2011.12.22 – ...) * Pedro María Laxague (2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca (

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) (2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03); next Bishop of Zárate-Campana (Argentina) (2015.11.03 – ...). *

Giorgio Marengo Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C. (born 7 June 1974) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. Created a cardinal by Pope Francis on 27 August 2022, he has been the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, a missionary jurisdiction that covers the entire c ...

I.M.C. The Institute of Consolata Missionaries ( la, Institutum Missionum a Consolata), commonly called the Consolata Missionaries is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. Its members add the nominal I.M.C. after their n ...

, form 2 April 2020

References

{{Reflist

Sources and external links

GCatholic
; Bibliography – ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 465 * Stefano Antonio Morcelli, ''Africa christiana'', Volume I, Brescia 1816, p. 130 Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis Catholic titular sees in Africa Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses Ancient Berber cities