Thiava was an ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

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 ...

civitas in

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 ...

, Africa Proconsulare and in the Vandal Kingdom. It was a

Latin Catholic , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

History

It was located near Thagaste to the south of Hippo, in the high valley of the

Medjerda The Medjerda River ( ar, وادي مجردة), the classical Bagrada, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river ...

, 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 ...

. The site is near modern near

Annaba Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...

and Souk-Ahras, in

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

. It was noted from 300–640AD. The town was seat of a bishopric under Hippo. Thiava was notable for being almost completely Donatist (heretical) in its religion. It was the site of a conflict with the

Catholic 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 ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, the church father Saint Augustine. The town became a center of the

Donatist controversy Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and ...

when

Donatus Magnus Donatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigrae, became leader of a schismatic sect known as the Donatists in North Africa, Algeria. He is believed to have died in exile around 355. Life Little is known of his early life because of the co ...

visited the town. The city had been Donatist but was returned to the

fold by

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

in the 390s. The first bishop of the town was Honoratus, a childhood friend of Augustine who had appointed him. Honoratus had been a monk at nearby Thagaste. In 402, Honoratus died in Thiava. As he had been a monk at both Thagaste and Thiava and his personal assets were large, there arose a dispute between Thiava and

Alypius of Thagaste Alypius of Thagaste was bishop of the Episcopal see, see of Tagaste (in what is now Algeria) in 394. He was a lifelong friend of Augustine of Hippo and joined him in his conversion (in 386; ''Confessions'' 8.12.28) and life in Christianity. He is ...

It was becoming custom for monks to give their assets to the order where they became a monk and so Alypius felt the estate should go to his order. Augustine eventually decided the matter in favor of Thiava but held that in future intestate estate of clergy be decided by the Roman civil law. This was an interesting outcome given his confections to Thagaste. Christian rule ended in the 7th century with the spread of Islam.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric under the names of Thiava (Latin), adjective Thiaven(sis)/ Tiava (Curiate Italian). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Ignace Ramarosandratana (1939.05.25 – 1955.09.14) as last Apostolic Vicar of

Miarinarivo Miarinarivo is a city (commune urbaine) in Itasy Region, in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. Miarinarivo is located at of Antananarivo and is the capital of Itasy Region as well as of its district. Education In Miarinarivo are situa ...

(

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

) (1939.05.25 – 1955.09.14), later (see) promoted first Bishop of Miarinarivo (1955.09.14 – death 1957.09.01) * José Pedro da Silva (1956.07.30 – 1965.02.13) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Patriarchate of Lisboa The Patriarchate of Lisbon ( la, Patriarchatus Olisiponensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Its archiepiscopal see is the Patriarchal Cathedra ...

(Portugal) (1956.07.30 – 1965.02.13), later Bishop of Viseu (Portugal) (1965.02.13 – retired 1988.09.14), died 2000 * Eugène-Jean-Marie Polge (1965.05.19 – 1968.04.25) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Avignon The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the ter ...

(southern France) (1965.05.19 – 1968.04.25), next Titular Archbishop of Curubis (1968.04.25 – 1970.06.25) as

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

of Avignon (France) (1968.04.25 – 1970.06.25), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Avignon (1970.06.25 – retired 1978.04.25); died 1993 * Stephen Stanislaus Woznicki (1968.10.30 – death 1968.12.10) on emeritate, previously Titular Bishop of Peltæ (1937.12.13 – 1950.03.28) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Detroit (USA) (1937.12.13 – 1950.03.28) and Bishop of Saginaw (USA) (1950.03.28 – retired 1968.10.30) * Dermot Patrick O’Mahony (1975.02.13 – death 2015.12.10) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

(Ireland) (1975.02.13 – retired 1996.06.07) and on emeritate * Hélio Pereira dos Santos (2016.04.27 – ...), as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia 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 associat ...

(Brazil), no previous prelature.

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic
{{coord missing, Algeria Catholic titular sees in Africa Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses Archaeological sites in Algeria Roman towns and cities in Algeria Ancient Berber cities

History

Titular see

See also

References

Sources and external links