Gabula was an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Syria, and remains a Latin Catholic
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 archbi ...
.
Its modern location is presumed at the marsh of
al-Jabbul (
Sabkhat al-Jabbul, Djebbul, Djabbul) in present
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
.
History
Gabula was important enough in the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of
Syria Prima to be a Metropolitan Archdiocese in the sway of the
Patriarchate of Antioch
The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...
(the provincial capital Antioch on the Orontes), but was to fade, presumably at the advent of Islam.
It has had two historically documented incumbents :
* Bassianus (Bassones), participant at the
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325.
This ec ...
in 325
* Flavianus, signator of the letter of the episcopate of Syria Secunda to
Byzantine emperor
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
Leo I the Thracian
Leo I (; 401 – 18 January 474), also known as "the Thracian" (; ), was Eastern Roman emperor from 457 to 474. He was a native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace. He is sometimes surnamed with the epithet "the Great" (; ), probably to ...
(457-474) in 458, after the lynch-mobbing by Copts of Patriarch
Proterius of Alexandria
Pope Proterius of Alexandria (died 457) was Patriarch of Alexandria from 451 to 457. He had been appointed by the Council of Chalcedon to replace the deposed Dioscorus. He regarded as hieromartyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic ...
.
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored in 1929 as a Latin Catholic
titular archbishopric
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 ...
.
It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, all of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank :
*
Joseph Attipetty (1932.11.29 – 1934.11.15)
* Patrick Finbar Ryan,
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
(O.P.) (1937.04.13 – 1940.06.06)
*
Louis Batanian (1940.08.10 – 1952.12.06); previously Archeparch (Archbishop) of
Mardin of the Armenians (1933.08.05 – 1940.08.10); later Archeparch of
Aleppo of the Armenians (Syria) (1952.12.06 – 1959.04.24),
Titular Archbishop
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 ...
of
Colonia in Armenia of the Armenians (1959.04.24 – 1962.09.04) &
Auxiliary Bishop
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.
...
of the patriarchate
Cilicia of the Armenians (Lebanon) (1959.04.24 – 1962.09.04),
Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians (Lebanon) (
962.09.041962.11.15 – 1976.04.22) and President of Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church (1969 – 1976.04.22)
* Pompeo Ghezzi (1953.10.25 – 1957.04.17)
* Aurelio Macedonio Guerriero (1957.05.25 – 1963.10.19)
* Francis Carroll,
Society of African Missionaries (S.M.A.) (1964.01.14 – 1980.10.10)
See also
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Syria
*
Gabala (another former archbishopric)
*
Catholic Church in Syria
References
Sources and external links
GCatholic with titular incumbent biography links ; Bibliography
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 434 (Gabba)
* Michel Lequien, ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus'', Paris 1740, vol. II, coll. 787-788
* Siméon Vailhé, ''Notes de géographie ecclésiastique'', in ''Échos d'Orient'', vol. IV (1900), p. 17.
{{Authority control
Catholic titular sees in Asia
Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses