Ruins of the basilica in Emmaus">basilica.html" ;"title="Ruins of the basilica">Ruins of the basilica in Emmaus.The Diocese of Emmaus is an ancient and titular see, titular diocese 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 ...

, located in Emmaus#Emmaus in the New Testament, Emmaus/Emmaus Nicopolis, Nicopolis,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, (modern

Imwas Imwas or Emmaus (), known in classical times as Nicopolis (), is an ethnically cleansed Palestinian village located southeast of the city of Ramla and from Jerusalem in the Latrun salient of the West Bank.Wareham and Gill, 1998, p. 108. It is ...

). The current

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo (born 24 April 1945, in San Polo di Piave, Italy) is a Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, resident in Nazareth. As at December 2020, he was Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusal ...

who resides in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

History

Being a small town only from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, the village of

Emmaus Emmaus ( ; ; ; ) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus. Although its geograp ...

was not initially a

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 ...

, but rather part of the bishopric of

. In 131 CE,

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

scholar and writer

Julius Africanus Sextus Julius Africanus ( 160 – c. 240; ) was a Christian traveler and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. He influenced fellow historian Eusebius, later writers of Church history among the Church Fathers, and the Greek sch ...

of Jerusalem, headed an embassy to Rome and had an interview with the Roman emperor

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( ) and Heliogabalus ( ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short r ...

on behalf of Emmaus. Soon after it was refounded to become a "city" (πόλις), which quickly became famous, and was given the qualification of "Nicopolis".

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

a century later writes

Emmaus, whence was
Cleopas Cleopas (; Greek: Κλεόπας, romanized: ''Kleopas''), also spelled Cleophas, was a figure of early Christianity, one of the two disciples who encountered Jesus during the Road to Emmaus appearance in . Etymology Some writers claim that t ...
who is mentioned by the Evangelist Luke. Today it is Nicopolis, a famous city of
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
.

Jerome described how the towns congregation "consecrated the house of

Cleopas Cleopas (; Greek: Κλεόπας, romanized: ''Kleopas''), also spelled Cleophas, was a figure of early Christianity, one of the two disciples who encountered Jesus during the Road to Emmaus appearance in . Etymology Some writers claim that t ...

as a church." 20100924 madaba58a

The bishopric of Emmaus was mentioned by St.

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

Hesychius of Jerusalem Hesychius of Jerusalem, also spelt Hesychios and also known as Hesychius the Priest, was a Christian priest and exegete, active during the first half of the fifth century. Nothing certain is known as to the dates of his birth and death (450s?), or, ...

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor (; 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second C ...

Sozomen Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos (; ; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home Sozoman was born around 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza, into a wealthy Christia ...

, and

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

. In 222 CE, a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

was erected there, which was rebuilt first by the

Byzantine 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 ...

s and later modified by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

.Sharon, 1997, p
80
/ref> This Diocese, however, must not have been of significance, being represented at only one of the first four

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

s nor mentioned by

Michel Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

but was in the '' Notitiae Ecclesiastica''. The ancient

ended when the Islamic armies entered the city. At the time of the

Muslim conquest of Palestine The Muslim conquest of the Levant (; ), or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and developed ...

, the main encampment of the Arab army was established in Emmaus, when a plague struck, killing as many as 25,000 of the army. In the 7th century both Willibald of Eichstätt and Hugeburc von Heidenheim, in her ''The Life of St. Willibald'' both describe the town church and "holy well". The church was one of 30,000 Christian buildings destroyed in 1009AD by

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Abu Ali al-Mansur (; 13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal name al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021). Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ism ...

, the

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. In the 12th century

William of Tyre William of Tyre (; 29 September 1186) was a Middle Ages, medieval prelate and chronicler. As Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I of Tyr ...

, described the abundance of water and

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

in the area around the town, and

Daniel Kievsky Daniel the Traveller, known also as Daniel the Pilgrim (), Daniel of Kiev, or Abbot Daniel, was the first travel writer from the Kievan Rus'.Anzovin, p. 201, item 3391: "The first Russian travel-writer was Daniel of Kiev, called in Russian Danie ...

wrote of the site, "but now all is destroyed by the pagans and the village of Emmaus is empty."

John Phocas __NOTOC__ John Phokas (, ''Iōánnēs Phōkâs'') or Phocas () was a 12th-century Byzantine pilgrim to the Holy Land. He wrote an account of his travels, the so-called ''Ekphrasis'' or ''Concise Description of the Holy Places'', which has been calle ...

(ca.1185) also described the town. The Bishopric was re-established in 1099 when the army of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, arrived in the town. But came under the rule of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in the early 16th century and, the church built by the Crusaders converted into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. In 1930, the

Carmelite Order The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

built a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, the ''House of Peace'', on a tract of land purchased in the town in 1878. Three years later it was established as a

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 the

Known bishops

Kajetan Sołtyk

Ancient diocese

*Petros Longius, bishop of Nikopolis attendee at the Council of Nicaea.

Titular Catholic see

* Bartolomeo Fargna (7 February 1729 – 1730) * Lothar Friedrich von Nalbach (2 October 1730 – 11 May 1748) *

Kajetan Ignacy Sołtyk Cajetan and Kajetan is the Anglicized, Germanized and Slavicized form of the Italian given name Gaetano. People with this name include: * Thomas Cajetan (1469–1534), Italian Dominican theologian, cardinal, and opponent of Martin Luther * Saint C ...

(22 September 1749 – 19 April 1756) * Franciszek Kobielski (28 January 1760 – 1 May 1766) *

Adam Stanisław Naruszewicz Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sin ...

(13 March 1775 – 28 November 1788) *Johann Maximilian von Haunold (18 June 1792 – 20 January 1807) *

Jean-Denis Gauthier Jean-Denis Gauthier ( Montaigu 13 November 1810 - 1 December 1877) was a French bishop in Vietnam. He was a deacon at the seminary of the Missions-étrangères de Paris, left for Vietnam in 1835, was ordained there in 1842, and died at Nghi Diên ( ...

(10 December 1839 – 8 December 1877) * Henricus den Dubbelden (14 January 1842 – 13 October 1851) * James Laird Patterson (20 April 1880 – 3 December 1902) * Algernon Charles Stanley (12 February 1903 – 23 April 1928) * Giuseppe Signore (1 December 1928 – 11 August 1944) * Joseph Patrick Donahue (27 January 1945 – 26 April 1959) * Jolando Nuzzi (8 August 1959 – 20 May 1961) * Carlo Maccari (10 June 1961 – 31 October 1963) * Franco Costa (18 December 1963 – 22 January 1977) *

Church buildings

*Emmaus Nicoplis, Latrun, Betharram/Beatitudes *Emmaus Qubeibeh, Qubeibeh, Franciscans

References

External links

Emmaus-Nicopolis, official site
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