The Diocese of Cephas (in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Dioecesis Cephasena) is a suppressed seat in 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 ...

. The official title is Titular Episcopal See of Cephas. Cephas, located on the

Tigris River The Tigris ( ; see below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, before merging ...

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

, was an ancient

episcopal seat A cathedral is a church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcop ...

of the Roman province of Mesopotamia in the diocese of the East. It was part of the

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and was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the Archdiocese of

Amida Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

, as attested by a 6th century ''

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'', official documentation that furnishes the list and hierarchical rank of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

and suffragan

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s of a church. Today Diocese of Cephas survives as only a titular bishop's seat. The seat is vacant since 1974.

Bishops

There are two known historical bishops of this ancient episcopal seat. The first, Benjamin, was bishop in the 4th century. He is mentioned in the biography of James the Egyptian, exiled in this region during the persecutions of the Emperor Julian () also known as Julian the Apostate. The second bishop is Noé who was bishop in the 5th century. He took part in the

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of 451 AD and signed the Greek bishops' letter to Emperor Leo I () also known as Leo the Thracian in 458 following the killing of the pro-

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Proterius on the hands of

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Coptic mobs In the following centuries the Cephas diocese also had Jacobite bishops.Chabot i
''Revue de l'Orient chrétien''
6 (1901), p. 198.

Titular Bishopric

Today Diocese of Cephas survives as a titular bishopric seat of the Catholic Church based in the Middle East. It was established in 1933 as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Amida (1725-1970). It was given as a title to a number of eparchs and bishops of the Catholic Church. The titular bishopric is presently suppressed and has remained vacant since May 5, 1974 with no further bishops assigned the title.

List of Bishops

(Not comprehensive) *Benjamin (4th century) *Noé (mid-5th century)

Titular bishops (modern era)

*Archbishop Jules Georges Kandela (May 12, 1951 - March 7, 1952) - Confirmed Titular Bishop of Cephas of the

Syrian Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul The Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul (or informally Mossul of the Syriacs) is a Syriac Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or archeparchy in northern Iraq. It is not a metropolitan see and is immediately exempt to the Syriac Catholic Pat ...

*Bishop Miguel Antonio Medina y Medina (16 July 1952 - 23 March 1964) - Appointed bishop of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali The Archdiocese of Cali () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Colombia. Its episcopal see is located in the city of Cali. History * 7 June 1910: Established as Diocese of Cali from the Metro ...

, Archdiocese of Medellín,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

*Bishop Kuriakose Kunnacherry (9 December 1967 - 5 May 1974) - As eparch of

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam is a Knanaya metropolitan archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. The archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who claim to be the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians ...

*''Vacant since 1974''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cephas, Diocese of Catholic titular sees in Asia