Rucuma is a former city and bishopric in
Roman North Africa
Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...
, which 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 archbis ...
.
History
It was among the cities of sufficient importance in the late
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 ...
of
Africa Proconsularis
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
to become a
suffragan bishopric
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 ...
of its capital
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 cla ...
's Metropolitan Archbishopric, yet faded so completely, plausibly at the
7th century advent of Islam, that its precisely location, now in northern
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, wasn't identified precisely.
Historically recorded Diocesan bishops were :
* Lucianus, attended the
Council of Carthage in 256, called by Saint
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 Christ ...
on ''lapsi'' (
'lapsed' Christians, who accepted forced pagan sacrifices to avoid martyrdom)
* Maximus, who intervened at another
Council of Carthage in 646, against the heresy
monothelitism
Monothelitism, or monotheletism (from el, μονοθελητισμός, monothelētismós, doctrine of one will), is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothelit ...
.
Titular see
The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as
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 Rucuma (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Rucumen(sis) (Latin adjective).
[''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 960]
It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:
*
Jean-Joseph-Léonce Villepelet (2 July 1966 – resigned 10 Dec 1970) as emeritate, previously Bishop of
Nantes (France) (1936.08.20 – 1966.07.02); died 1982
*
Patrick Fani Chakaipa (15 Oct 1972 – 31 May 1976) as
Auxiliary Bishop of
Archdiocese of Salisbury (
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
) (1972.10.15 – 1976.05.31), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Salisbury (1976.05.31 – 1982.06.25), President of Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (1977 – 1984), Metropolitan Archbishop of
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
(Zimbabwe) (1982.06.25 – death 2003.04.08), President of Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (1992–1995)
*
John Huston Ricard,
Josephites (S.S.J.) (25 May 1984 – 20 Jan 1997), next Auxiliary Bishop of
Archdiocese of Baltimore
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of M ...
(Maryland, USA) (1984.05.25 – 1997.01.20), Bishop of
Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
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 lette ...
, (Florida, USA) (1997.01.20
997.03.13– retired 2011.03.11)
*
Thomas Maria Renz Thomas Maria Renz (born December 9, 1957 in München) is a German theologian and, since April 29, 1997, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and the Titular Bishop of Rucuma.
Renz was ordained for the Diocese of Rottenburg- ...
(29 April 1997 – ...) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Rottenburg–Stuttgart (Germany) (1997.04.29 – ...).
See also
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Tunisia
References
{{Reflist
Sources and external links
GCatholic - (former &) titular seein Catholic Hierarchy.
; Bibliography
* Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 468
* Stefano Antonio Morcelli, ''Africa christiana'', Volume I, Brescia 1816, p. 263
Catholic titular sees in Africa
Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses