The Archdiocese of Carthage is a

Latin Catholic The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...

titular see originally established as a diocese in

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, 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 classic ...

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 ...

, in the 2nd century. Agrippinus was the first named bishop, appointed around 230 AD. The diocese, in its earlier form, was to the

Early African church The name early African church is given to the Christians, Christian communities inhabiting the region known politically as North Africa during Antiquity#Roman era, Roman Africa, and comprised geographically somewhat around the area of the Roman D ...

what the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

was to the

Catholic Church in Italy The Italian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Italy, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference of Italian Bishops. The pope serves also as Primate of Italy and Bishop ...

. The archdiocese used the African Rite, a variant of the

Western liturgical rites Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, is a large family of liturgical rites and uses of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe ...

Latin language 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 ...

, possibly a local use of the primitive

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

. Famous figures include Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions (died c. 203),

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

(c. 155–240),

Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 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 Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...

(c. 200–258),

Caecilianus Caecilianus, or Caecilian, was archdeacon and then bishop of Carthage in 311 AD. His appointment as bishop led to the Donatist controversy of the Late Roman Empire. He was also one of only five Western bishops at the First Council of Nicea. B ...

(floruit 311), Saint Aurelius (died 429), and

Eugenius of Carthage Eugenius of Carthage was a Christian prelate unanimously elected Bishop of Carthage in 480 to succeed Deogratias. He was caught up in the disputes of his day between Arianism and mainstream Christianity. He is revered as a saint. Biography His ...

(died 505). Tertullian and Cyprian are both considered Latin Church Fathers of the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

. Tertullian, a theologian of part

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 ...

descent, was instrumental in the development of trinitarian theology, and was the first to apply

extensively in his theological writings. As such, Tertullian has been called "the father of

Latin Christianity The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion wi ...

" and "the founder of Western theology." Carthage remained an important center of Christianity, hosting several

councils of Carthage The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

. Carthage exercised informal primacy as an

archdiocese 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 associated ...

, being the most important center of Christianity in the whole of

Roman Africa Roman Africa or Roman North Africa is the culture of Roman Africans that developed from 146 BC, when the Roman Republic defeated Carthage and the Punic Wars ended, with subsequent institution of Roman Empire, Roman Imperial government, through th ...

, corresponding to most of today's Mediterranean coast and inland of

Northern Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. As such, it enjoyed the title of primate of Africa. In the 6th century, turbulent controversies in teachings affected the diocese:

Donatism Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christianity, Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and ...

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

, and

Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, ta ...

. Some proponents established their own parallel hierarchies. The city of Carthage fell to 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 ...

with the

Battle of Carthage (698) The Battle of Carthage was fought in 698 AD between a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine expeditionary force and the armies of the Umayyad Caliphate. The battle was a lynchpin of the ongoing Muslim conquest of the Maghreb and put remaining Byzantine re ...

. The episcopal see remained but Christianity declined under

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

. The last resident bishop, Cyriacus of Carthage, was documented in 1076. It became a titular see with bishops appointed beginning in the 16th century, was briefly restored as a residential see in the 19th century, and was again made titular in 1964, being supplanted by the Archdiocese of Tunis. The titular see of Carthage has been vacant since 1979.

History

Background

The temporal importance of the city of Carthage in the

had previously been restored by

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. When Christianity became firmly established around 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 Africa Proconsulare, Carthage became its natural ecclesiastical seat. The Diocese of Carthage was to the

what the

was to the

. The archdiocese used the African Rite, a variant of the

, possibly a local use of the primitive

Antiquity

Earliest bishops

In Christian traditions, some accounts give as the first bishop of Carthage

Crescens Crescens ( Greek: Κρίσκης) was an individual who appears in the New Testament. He is traditionally considered one of the 72 disciples sent out by Jesus in Luke 10. He was a missionary in Galatia and became a companion of Paul. The na ...

, ordained by

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

, or Speratus, one of the Scillitan Martyrs. Epenetus of Carthage is found in Pseudo-Dorotheus and

Pseudo-Hippolytus Hippolytus of Rome ( , ; Romanized: , – ) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communitie ...

lists of

seventy disciples The seventy disciples (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητές, ''hebdomikonta mathetes''), known in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles (Greek language, Greek: ἑβδομήκον� ...

. The account of the martyrdom of Saint Perpetua and her companions in 203 mentions an Optatus who is generally taken to have been bishop of Carthage, but who may instead have been bishop of

Thuburbo Minus Tebourba ( ') is a town in Tunisia, located about 20 miles (30 km) from the capital Tunis, former ancient city ( Thuburbo Minus) and bishopric, now a Latin Catholic titular see. Thuburbo Minus Historically Thuburbo Minus ("Little Thuburbo ...

. The first certain historically documented bishop of Carthage is Agrippinus around the 230s. Also historically certain is Donatus, the immediate predecessor of

(249–258).

Primacy

In the 3rd century, at the time of Cyprian, the bishops of Carthage exercised a real though not formalized primacy in the

Early African Church The name early African church is given to the Christians, Christian communities inhabiting the region known politically as North Africa during Antiquity#Roman era, Roman Africa, and comprised geographically somewhat around the area of the Roman D ...

. not only in the

Proconsular Africa Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of the continent of Africa. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisi ...

in the broadest sense (even when it was divided into three provinces through the establishment of

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) (, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Dioclet ...

and

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

), but also, in some supra-

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 ...

form, over the Church in

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

and

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

. The provincial primacy was associated with the senior bishop in the province rather than with a particular see and was of little importance in comparison to the authority of the bishop of Carthage, who could be appealed to directly by the clergy of any province. Carthage exercised informal primacy as an

, being the most important center of Christianity in the whole of

, corresponding to most of today's Mediterranean coast and inland of

. As such, it enjoyed the title of primate of Africa.

Division

Cyprian faced opposition within his own diocese over the question of the proper treatment of the '' lapsi'' who had fallen away from the Christian faith under persecution. More than eighty bishops, some from distant frontier regions of

, attended the Council of Carthage (256). A division in the church that came to be known as the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

controversy began in 313 among Christians in North Africa. The Donatists stressed the holiness of the church and refused to accept the authority to administer the sacraments of those who had surrendered the scriptures when they were forbidden under the Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

. The Donatists also opposed the involvement of

Emperor Constantine Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christ ...

in church affairs in contrast to the majority of Christians who welcomed official imperial recognition. The occasionally violent controversy has been characterized as a struggle between opponents and supporters of the Roman system. The most articulate North African critic of the Donatist position, which came to be called a heresy, was

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, bishop of

Hippo Regius Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kingdom from AD ...

. Augustine maintained that the unworthiness of a minister did not affect the validity of the sacraments because their true minister was Christ. In his sermons and books Augustine, who is considered a leading exponent of Christian dogma, evolved a theory of the right of orthodox Christian rulers to use force against schismatics and heretics. Although the dispute was resolved by a decision of an imperial commission in the

Council of Carthage (411) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

, Donatist communities continued to exist as late as the 6th century.

Successors of Cyprian until before the Vandal invasion

The immediate successors of Cyprian were Lucianus and Carpophorus, but there is disagreement about which of the two was earlier. A bishop Cyrus, mentioned in a lost work by

, is placed by some before, by others after, the time of Cyprian. There is greater certainty about the 4th-century bishops:

Mensurius Mensurius was a bishop of Carthage in the early 4th century during the early Christian Church. During the Christian persecution of Diocletian he evaded turning over sacred scriptures to the Roman authorities, but was nevertheless considered a t ...

, bishop by 303, succeeded in 311 by

, who was 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 ...

and who was opposed by the Donatist bishop Majorinus (311–315). Rufus participated in an anti-

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

council held in Rome in 337 or 340 under

Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was the bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on 12 April 352. He was appealed to by Athanasius when the latter was deposed from his position as patriarch by Arian bishops, Julius then supported Athanasius and condemned hi ...

. He was opposed by

Donatus Magnus Donatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigrae, was the leader of a schismatic Christian sect known as the Donatists in North Africa, Algeria. He is believed to have died in exile around 355. Life Little is known of his early life becau ...

, the true founder of Donatism. Gratus (344– ) was at the

Council of Sardica The Council of Serdica, or Synod of Serdica (also Sardica located in modern-day Sofia, Bulgaria), was a synod convened in 343 at Serdica in the civil diocese of Dacia, by Emperors Constans I, Augustus in the West, and Constantius II, Augustus in ...

and presided over the Council of Carthage (349). He was opposed by Donatus Magnus and, after his exile and death, by Parmenianus, whom the Donatists chose as his successor. Restitutus accepted the Arian formula at the Council of Rimini in 359 but later repented. Genethlius presided over two councils at Carthage, the second of which was held in 390. By the end of the 4th century, the settled areas had become Christianized, and some

tribes had converted en masse. The next bishop was Saint Aurelius, who in 421 presided over another council at Carthage and was still alive in 426. His Donatist opponent was Primianus, who had succeeded

Parmenianus Parmenian (Latin: ''Parmenianus;'' died ca. 392) was a North African Donatist bishop, the successor of Donatus in the Donatist bishopric of Carthage. He wrote several works defending the rigorist views of the Donatists and is recognized as "the mos ...

in about 391. A dispute between Primian and

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

, a relative of Donatus, resulted in the largest Maximian schism within the Donatist movement.

Bishops under the Vandals

Capreolus was bishop of Carthage when the Vandals conquered the province. Unable for that reason to attend the

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...

in 431 as chief bishop of Africa, he sent his deacon Basula or Bessula to represent him. In about 437, he was succeeded by

Quodvultdeus Quodvultdeus (Latin for "what God wills", died 450 AD) was a fifth-century Church Father and Bishop of Carthage who was exiled to Naples. He was known to have been living in Carthage around 407 and became a deacon in 421 AD. He corresponded w ...

, whom

Gaiseric Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric (; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was king of the Vandals and Alans from 428 to 477. He ruled over a kingdom and played a key role in the decline of the Western Roman Empire during ...

exiled and who died in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. A 15-year vacancy followed.

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I () ( 391 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great (; ), was Bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death on 10 November 461. He is the first of the three Popes listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio'' with the title "the ...

confirmed the primacy of the bishop of Carthage in 446: "Indeed, after the Roman Bishop, the leading Bishop and metropolitan for all Africa is the Bishop of Carthage."François Decret, ''Early Christianity in North Africa'' (James Clarke & Co, 25 Dec. 2014) p86. In 454, Deogratias was ordained bishop of Carthage. He died at the end of 457 or the beginning of 458, and Carthage remained without a bishop for another 24 years. Saint Eugenius was consecrated in around 481, exiled, along with other Catholic bishops, by

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

in 484, recalled in 487, but in 491 forced to flee to

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

in Gaul, where he died. When the Vandal persecution ended in 523, Bonifacius became bishop of Carthage and held a Council in 525.

Middle Ages

Praetorian prefecture of Africa

The

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

established its

praetorian prefecture of Africa The Praetorian Prefecture of Africa () was an administrative division of the Byzantine Empire in the Maghreb. With its seat at Carthage, it was established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533–534 by the Byzantine ...

after the reconquest of northwestern Africa during the

Vandalic War The Vandalic War (533–534) was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Germanic Vandal Kingdom. It was the first war of Emperor Justinian I's , wherein the ...

533–534. Bonifacius was succeeded by Reparatus, who held firm in the

Three Chapters Controversy The Three-Chapter Controversy, a phase in the Chalcedonian controversy, was an attempt to reconcile the non-Chalcedonians of Syria and Egypt with Chalcedonian Christianity, following the failure of the '' Henotikon''. The ''Three Chapters'' ( ...

and in 551 was exiled to

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, where he died. He was replaced by Primosus, who accepted the emperor's wishes on the controversy. He was represented at the

Second Council of Constantinople The Second Council of Constantinople is the fifth of the first seven ecumenical councils recognized by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. It is also recognized by the Old Catholics and others. Protestant opinions and re ...

in 553 by the bishop of Tunis. Publianus was bishop of Carthage from before 566 to after 581. Dominicus is mentioned in letters of

Pope Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

between 592 and 601. Fortunius lived at the time of

Pope Theodore I Pope Theodore I (; died 14 May 649) was the bishop of Rome from 24 November 642 to his death on 14 May 649. His pontificate was dominated by the struggle with Monothelitism. Early career According to the ''Liber Pontificalis'', Theodore was a ...

(c. 640) and went to Constantinople in the time of

Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople Paul II of Constantinople (Greek: Παῦλος; died 27 December 653) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1 October 641 to his death. He assumed regency for Byzantine emperor Constans II after a succession crisis in 641. Stephan ...

(641 to 653). Victor became bishop of Carthage in 646.

Islamic conquest of Mahgreb

Last resident bishops

At the beginning of the 8th century and at the end of the 9th, Carthage still appears in lists of dioceses over which the Patriarch of Alexandria claimed jurisdiction. Two letters of

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (, , 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historica ...

on 27 December 1053 show that the diocese of Carthage was still a residential see. The texts are given in the ''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published betwe ...

'' of

Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...

. They were written in reply to consultations regarding a conflict between the bishops of Carthage and

Gummi Gummies, fruitgums, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Popular types include gummy bears, Sour Patch Kids, Jelly Babies and gummy worms. Various brands such as Bassett's, Hari ...

about who was to be considered the metropolitan, with the right to convoke a synod. In each of the two letters, the pope laments that, while in the past Carthage had had a church council of 205 bishops, the number of bishops in the whole territory of Africa was now reduced to five, and that, even among those five, there was jealousy and contention. However, he congratulated the bishops to whom he wrote for submitting the question to the Bishop of Rome, whose consent was required for a definitive decision. The first of the two letters (Letter 83 of the collection) is addressed to Thomas, Bishop of Africa, whom Mesnages deduces to have been the bishop of Carthage. The other letter (Letter 84 of the collection) is addressed to Bishops Petrus and Ioannes, whose sees are not mentioned, and whom the pope congratulates for having supported the rights of the see of Carthage. In each of the two letters, Pope Leo declares that, after the Bishop of Rome, the first archbishop and chief metropolitan of the whole of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

is the bishop of Carthage, while the bishop of

, whatever his dignity or power, will act, except for what concerns his own diocese, like the other African bishops, by consultation with the archbishop of Carthage. In the letter addressed to Petrus and Ioannes, Pope Leo adds to his declaration of the position of the bishop of Carthage the eloquent declaration: "... nor can he, for the benefit of any bishop in the whole of Africa lose the privilege received once for all from the holy Roman and apostolic see, but he will hold it until the end of the world as long as the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is invoked there, whether Carthage lie desolate or whether it some day rise glorious again". When in the 19th century the residential see of Carthage was for a while restored, Cardinal Charles-Martial-Allemand Lavigerie had these words inscribed in letters of gold beneath the dome of his great cathedral. The building now belongs the Tunisian state and is used for concerts. Later, an archbishop of Carthage named Cyriacus was imprisoned by the Arab rulers because of an accusation by some Christians.

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

wrote him a letter of consolation, repeating the hopeful assurances of the primacy of the Church of Carthage, "whether the Church of Carthage should still lie desolate or rise again in glory". By 1076, Cyriacus was set free, but there was only one other bishop in the province. These are the last of whom there is mention in that period of the history of the see.

Decline

After the

, the church gradually died out along with the local Latin dialect. The

Islamization The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

of Christian appears to have been quick and the Arab authors paid scant attention to them. Christian graves inscribed with Latin and dated to 10th–11th centuries are known. By the end of 10th century, the number of

bishoprics 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 associated ...

in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

region was 47 including 10 in southern Tunisia. In 1053,

commented that only five bishoprics were left in

. Some primary accounts including Arabic ones in 10th century mention persecutions of the Church and measures undertaken by Muslim rulers to suppress it. A schism among the African churches developed by the time of

Pope Formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as Pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Kingdom of ...

. In 980, Christians of Carthage contacted Pope

Benedict VII Pope Benedict VII (; died 10 July 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death on 10 July 983. Family and early career Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic II ...

, asking to declare Jacob as an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Leo IX Pope Leo IX (, , 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historica ...

declared the bishop of Carthage as the "first archbishop and

of all Africa" when a bishop of Gummi in Byzacena declared the region a

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

. By the time of Gregory VII, the Church was unable to appoint a bishop which traditionally would have only required presence of three other bishops. This was likely due to persecutions and possibly other churches breaking off their communion with Carthage. In 1152, the Muslim rulers ordered the Christians of Tunisia to convert or face death. The only African bishopric mentioned in a list in 1192 published by the Catholic Church in Rome was that of Carthage. Native Christianity is attested in the 15th century, though it was not in communion in with the Catholic church. The bishop of Morocco Lope Fernandez de Ain was made the head of the Church of Africa, the only church officially allowed to preach in the continent, on 19 December 1246 by Pope

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

Modernity

In 1518, the Archdiocese of Carthage was revived as a Catholic titular see. It was briefly restored as a residential episcopal see 1884–1964, after which it was supplanted by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis The Archdiocese of Tunis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded on 10 November 1884 under the name "Archdiocese of Carthage", with territory corresponding to that of the t ...

. The last titular Archbishop of Carthage,

Agostino Casaroli Agostino Casaroli (24 November 1914 – 9 June 1998) was an Italian Catholic priest and diplomat for the Holy See, who became Cardinal Secretary of State. He was an important figure behind the Vatican's efforts to deal with the religious persec ...

, remained in office until 1979. Since then, the titular see has remained vacant.

List of bishops

*Crescentius (c. 80) *Epenetus (c. 115) * Speratus (180) *Optatus (203) * Agrippinus (c. 240) *Donatus I (?–248) *

(248–258) **Maximus (251),

Novatianist Novatianism or Novationism was an early Christian sect devoted to the theologian Novatian () that held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of '' lapsi'' (those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formal ...

anti-bishop **Fortunatus (252), anti-bishop *Lucianus (3rd century) *Carpophorus (3rd century) *Cyrus (3rd century) *

(311–325) **

Majorinus Majorinus was the leader of a schismatic Christian sect in Roman North Africa known as the Donatists. Life Very little is known of his early life, as Donatist writings were mostly destroyed in the following years. What we can garner of his life ...

(312 – c. 313),

bishop ** Donatus II (c. 313 – c. 350×355), Donatist bishop *Rufus (337×340) * (fl. 343/4–345×348) **Parmenianus (c. 350×355 – c. 391), Donatist bishop * (359) * (? – 390×393) *

Aurelius The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the ...

(fl. 393–426) ** Primianus (c. 391), Donatist bishop ** Maximianus (c. 392), Donatist bishop * (fl. 431–435) *

(c. 437 – c. 454) * Deogratias (454–457/8) :''sede vacante'' *

Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Western Roman emperor from 392 to 394, unrecognized by the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious p ...

(481–505) :''sede vacante'' * (523 – c. 535) *Reparatus (535–552) *Primosus or Primasius (552 – c. 565) *Publianus (fl. c. 565–581) *Dominicus (fl. 592–601) *Licinianus (d. 602) *Fortunius *Victor (646–?) :... *Stephen :... *James (974×983) :... *Thomas (1054) * (1076)

References

Bibliography

* François Decret, ''Le christianisme en Afrique du Nord ancienne'', Seuil, Paris, 1996 () * *

Paul Monceaux Étienne-Paul-Victor Monceaux (29 May 1859 – 7 February 1941) was a 19th-20th-century French historian. A professor at the Collège de France from 1907 to 1937, he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Th ...

''Histoire littéraire de l'Afrique chrétienne depuis les origines jusqu'à l'invasion arabe''
(7 volumes : Tertullien et les origines – saint Cyprien et son temps – le IV, d'Arnobe à Victorin – le Donatisme – saint Optat et les premiers écrivains donatistes – la littérature donatiste au temps de saint Augustin – saint Augustin et le donatisme), Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1920.

External links

*
Les racines africaines du christianisme latin
par Henri Teissier, Archevêque d'Alger {{Authority control