Abla is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, former bishopric and 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 ...

in Almería province, in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, southeast

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

History

It is considered to be the Abula mentioned by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in his ''Geographia'' (II 6, 60) as located in the Iberian region of

Bastetania The Bastetani or Bastuli were an ancient Iberian (pre-Roman) people of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania). They are believed to have spoken the Iberian language. The relationship between the Iberian Bastetani and the Tartessian Mastien ...

. Another candidate for identification with ancient Abula is

Ávila Ávila ( , , ) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

, which may instead have been the ancient Obila.

Ecclesiastical history

Abula is said to be one of the first cities in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

that were

Christianized Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

, specifically by Saint Secundus, one of the group of

Seven Apostolic Men According to Christian tradition, the Seven Apostolic Men (''siete varones apostólicos'') were seven Christian clerics ordained in Rome by Saints Peter and Paul and sent to evangelize Spain. This group includes Torquatus, Caecilius, Ctesiph ...

(''siete varones apostólicos''), Christian clerics ordained in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

by Saints

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and sent to evangelize Spain. Little is known of a second bishop of Abula, called Iulius, possibly his successor, living around 100 AD. No other incumbents were recorded.

Titular see

No longer a residential see, Abula is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a Latin

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 ...

since the diocese was nominally restored in 1969.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 822 It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank: * Javier Osés Flamarique (11 October 1969 – 28 February 1977) as

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. ...

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

(Aragon,

) (11 October 1969 – 28 February 1977) and next

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

''sede plena'' of Huesca (1971 – 19 May 1973), then apostolic administrator of Huesca (19 May 1973 – 28 February 1977); later Bishop of Huesca (28 February 1977 – death 24 August 2001) * Charles McDonald Renfrew (5 May 1977 – death 27 February 1992) as auxiliary bishop of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, UK) (5 May 1977 – 27 February 1992) * Alojz Uran (16 December 1992 – 25 October 2004) as auxiliary bishop of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

(

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) (16 December 1992 – 25 October 2004); later succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Ljubljana (25 October 2004 – retired 28 November 2009), president of Episcopal Conference of Slovenia (16 March 2007 – 28 November 2009) * Salvador Giménez Valls (11 May 2005 – 21 May 2009) as auxiliary bishop of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

(southern Spain) (11 May 2005 – 21 May 2009) and

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

(Balearic Spain) (21 September 2008 – 21 May 2009); later succeeded as Bishop of Menorca (21 May 2009 – 28 July 2015), then Bishop of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

(Spain) (28 July 2015 – ...) * Giorgio Corbellini (3 July 2009 – ...), President of Labour Office of the Apostolic See (3 July 2009 – ...), President of Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia (11 May 2010 – ...), president ad interim of

Financial Information Authority The Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (''Autorità di Supervisione e Informazione Finanziaria'', or ASIF) is the central institution in the Holy See and Vatican City State that is responsible for the prevention and countering of mon ...

(30 January 2014 – 19 November 2014), supplementary member of

College for the review of appeals by clergy accused of delicta graviora A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

(21 January 2015 – ...); also was, even previously, president of Personnel Commission of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State (22 February 2001 – 3 September 2011), vice secretary general of Governorate of the Vatican City State (22 February 2001 – 3 September 2011).

Demographics

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.9) ImageSize = width:580 height:300 PlotArea = left: 60 bottom: 30 top: 20 right: 20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar: 1877 text: 1877 bar: 1887 text: 1887 bar: 1900 text: 1900 bar: 1910 text: 1910 bar: 1920 text: 1920 bar: 1930 text: 1930 bar: 1940 text: 1940 bar: 1950 text: 1950 bar: 1960 text: 1960 bar: 1970 text: 1970 bar: 1980 text: 1980 bar: 1990 text: 1990 bar: 2000 text: 2000 bar: 2010 text: 2010 bar: 2020 text: 2020 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar: 1877 from:2704 till: 0 bar: 1887 from:2695 till: 0 bar: 1900 from:2461 till: 0 bar: 1910 from:2772 till: 0 bar: 1920 from:2728 till: 0 bar: 1930 from:2683 till: 0 bar: 1940 from:2980 till: 0 bar: 1950 from:2567 till: 0 bar: 1960 from:2340 till: 0 bar: 1970 from:1897 till: 0 bar: 1980 from:1723 till: 0 bar: 1990 from:1663 till: 0 bar: 2000 from:1501 till: 0 bar: 2010 from:1459 till: 0 bar: 2020 from:1248 till:0 PlotData= bar: 1877 at:2704 fontsize:S text:2.704 shift:(0,5) bar: 1887 at:2695 fontsize:S text:2.695 shift:(0,5) bar: 1900 at:2461 fontsize:S text:2.461 shift:(0,5) bar: 1910 at:2772 fontsize:S text:2.772 shift:(0,5) bar: 1920 at:2728 fontsize:S text:2.728 shift:(0,5) bar: 1930 at:2683 fontsize:S text:2.683 shift:(0,5) bar: 1940 at:2980 fontsize:S text:2.980 shift:(0,5) bar: 1950 at:2567 fontsize:S text:2.567 shift:(0,5) bar: 1960 at:2340 fontsize:S text:2.340 shift:(0,5) bar: 1970 at:1897 fontsize:S text:1.897 shift:(0,5) bar: 1980 at:1723 fontsize:S text:1.723 shift:(0,5) bar: 1990 at:1663 fontsize:S text:1.663 shift:(0,5) bar: 2000 at:1501 fontsize:S text:1.501 shift:(0,5) bar: 2010 at:1459 fontsize:S text:1.459 shift:(0,5) bar: 2020 at:1248 fontsize:S text:1.248 shift:(0,5) Fro
INE Archiv
/small>

References

External links