Castra Severiana was an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

Roman-era town of 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 ...

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in present-day Algeria. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had ...

, in North Africa during

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

. The town in modern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

has been tentatively identified with ruins at Sidi-Ali-Ben-Joub (Chanzy) or Lalla Marnia.

History

Roman Empire

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Castra Severiana was a Roman town, of the

. The town was excavated in the 1940s.

Late antiquity

From

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s we know that Castra Severiana was part of the small

Kingdom of Altava The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the an ...

, a Christian–

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 ...

kingdom that existed around

Tamazgha Tamazgha is a fictitious entity and neologism in the Berber languages denoting the lands traditionally inhabited by the Berber peoples within the Maghreb. The term was coined in the 1970s by the Berber Academy in France and, since the late 1990 ...

from the 4th century AD until the

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century ...

Ecclesiastical history

The town was also the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of the diocese of Castra Severiana, an

Christian

bishopric 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 associate ...

in the papal sway, that flourished in late antiquity Its only historically documented bishop was Faustus, mentioned in 484. It did not last long after the seventh century

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as 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 ...

of Castra Severiana (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Castraseverianensis (Latin adjective) and

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 ...

of the

Roman 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 ...

.''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...

2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819–1013 It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, do far of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank: * José Maritano, Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.) (1965.12.29 – 1978.05.26) as last

Bishop-Prelate In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the c ...

of Territorial Prelature of Macapá (Brazil) (1965.12.29 – 1980.10.30); next (see promoted) first Bishop of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimate), and is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region, Brazil, North Region, located on the northern channel of the Amazon Delta near its mouth on the Atlant ...

(Brazil) (1980.10.30 – retired 1983.08.31), died 1992 * Paul Dacoury-Tabley (1979.04.09 – 1994.12.19) 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. ...

of Archdiocese of Abidjan (

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

) (1979.04.09 – 1994.12.19), Bishop of

Grand-Bassam Grand-Bassam () is a town in southeastern Ivory Coast, lying east of Abidjan. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Grand-Bassam Department; it is also a commune. During the late 19th century, Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial ...

(Côte d'Ivoire) (1994.12.19 – retired 2010.03.27) * Evarist Pinto (2000.02.17 – 2004.01.05) (born India) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Karachi (Pakistan) (2000.02.17 – 2004.01.05) and

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 ...

of Karachi (2002.11.20 – 2004.01.05); next Metropolitan Archbishop of Karachi (2004.01.05 – retired 2012.01.25) * Vasyl Semeniuk (2004.02.10 – 2006.10.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) (2004.02.10 – 2006.10.19), also

Patriarchal Administrator Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

of eparchy Kamyanets-Podilsky of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (2015.12.11 – ...); next 'last' Eparch (Bishop) of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (2006.10.19 – 2011.12.22), (see) promoted first Metropolitan Archbishop of Ternopil–Zboriv of the Ukrainians (2011.12.22 – ...) * Pedro María Laxague (2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) (2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03); next Bishop of Zárate-Campana (Argentina) (2015.11.03 – ...). *

Giorgio Marengo Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C. (; born 7 June 1974) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. Created a cardinal by Pope Francis on 27 August 2022, he has been the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, a missionary jurisdiction that covers the entire ...

I.M.C. The Institute of Consolata Missionaries (), commonly called the Consolata Missionaries, is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious congregation of Pontifical Right with branches for both men and women. Its members add the nominal I.M.C. after their ...

, from 2 April 2020

References

{{Reflist

Sources and external links

GCatholic
; Bibliography – ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 465 * Stefano Antonio Morcelli, ''Africa christiana'', Volume I, Brescia 1816, p. 130 Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis Catholic titular sees in Africa Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses Ancient Berber cities