Girus Tarasii was a town in 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 ...

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

that became a residential

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

. It is tentatively identified with ruins situated at what is now called Henchir-Tarsa in

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

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 903 Girus Tarasii was probably the seat of an ancient

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 ...

which survives as a

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

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 ...

, by the name ''Tarasa in Numidia''.

History

Bishopric

The city was the seat of an ancient

. Little is known of the bishopric. However, the bishop here, Cresconio, attended the synod in Carthage in 484 called by the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was m ...

after which the bishop was exiled. The city may have been the home of Zosimus, who participated in the

Council of Carthage (256) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

called by

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...

to discuss the problem of '' Lapsi'', though more likely he was of Tarasa of Byzacena. * Zosimus? (fl 256) * Cresconio ( fl 484) * Urbain Etienne Morlion (1939–1959) * Antonino Pinel (1961–1987) *

Luis del Castillo Estrada Luis del Castillo Estrada, S.J. (born 21 June 1931, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan Roman Catholic cleric. Biography Luis del Castillo was ordained priest on 30 July 1966 in the Society of Jesus. On 9 April 1988 he was appointed titular bishop o ...

(1988–1999) * Artur Grzegorz Mizinski, from 3 May 2004 The bishopric ceased to effectively function with 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 ...

but was re-founded in name in the early 20th century and remains as a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

ric. The current bishop is Artur Grzegorz Miziński of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

.Titular Episcopal See of Tarasa in Numidia
at GCatholic.org.

References

Catholic titular sees in Africa Roman towns and cities in Algeria Ancient Berber cities {{RC-diocese-stub

History

Bishopric

See also

References