Musti in Numidia, also called ''Musti Numidiae'', was an ancient city and bishop jurisdiction^(bishopric), and is presently a

Catholic titular see This is the official list of titular sees of the Catholic Church included in the ''Annuario Pontificio''. Archiepiscopal sees are shown in bold. The Italian-language ''Annuario Pontificio'' devotes some 200 pages to listing these sees, with up to ...

,^{(bishop's government see of a former government under a church's responsibility, also known as a dead diocese.)} in modern Algeria.

History

It was important enough in the Roman province of

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 ...

to become a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

ric of its capital's Metropolitan Archbishop of

Cirta Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city w ...

(modern

Constantine, Algeria Constantine ( ar, قسنطينة '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman Empire, Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Const ...

), but later faded. There also was another city and bishopric called Musti in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, which Sophrone PétridèsSophrone Pétridès, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 10, 1911
/ref> confuses with Musti in

(modern Algeria), even to the extent of presenting the supposed single see as represented at the 411 Council at Carthage by four bishops, two Donatist ( Felicianus and Cresconius) and two Catholic (Victorianus and Leontius). J. Mesnage distinguishes between the two sees, assigning Felicianus and Victorianus to the Musti of Proconsular Africa, a suffragan of Carthage, and Cresconius and Leontius to what he calls Musti Numidiae. The Catholic Church's list of titular sees also distinguishes between the two, calling one see simply ''Musti'' and the other ''Musti in Numidia''. Mesnage also distinguishes between the sees of two other bishops of whom Pétridès speaks as bishops of a single Musti: an Antonianus of the Numidian Musti was one of the bishops whom the Vandal king Huneric exiled in 482, and the Januarius who in 646 signed the letter of the bishops of Proconsular Africa to Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, against the monothelites, was obviously of that province.

Titular see

The bishopric was founded during the Roman Empire and survived through the

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

Vandal Kingdom and

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Byzantine Empire, only ceasing to function with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb.J. Mesnage, ''L'Afrique chrétienne'', (Paris, 1912), p. 424.

Known bishops

*Leonzio ( Catholic bishop mentioned at Council of Carthage (411) * Cresconio ( Donatist bishop) (mentioned at Council of Carthage (411) * Anthony (Catholic bishop attended the synod in Carthage in 484 called by the Vandal king, Huneric, after which Anthony was exiled) The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric only in 1989. It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank: * Salvatore Gristina (1992.07.16 – 1999.01.23), as Auxiliary Bishop of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

(Italy) (1992.07.16 – 1999.01.23); later Bishop of Acireale (Italy) (1999.01.23 – 2002.06.07), Metropolitan Archbishop of

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

(Italy) (2002.06.07 – ...) * Andrej Glavan (2000.05.13 – 2006.04.07) * Peter Štumpf,

S.D.B. , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

(2006.05.24 – 2009.11.28) * Paolo Martinelli,

O.F.M. Cap. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

(2014.05.24 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop of Milan (Italy)

References

Sources and external links

GigaCatholic, with titular incumebnt biography links
* {{CathEncy, wstitle=Musti * J. Mesnage
''L'Afrique chrétienne''
Paris 1912, p. 424 Catholic titular sees in Africa Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa