Menefessi is a former ancient city and bishopric in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. It is currently 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 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 ...

History

Menefessi was located near modern Henchir-Djemmiah. In Roman times, it belonged to the North African

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 ...

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 ...

. The city was important enough to become 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 ...

bishopric, but faded.

Bishopric

The diocese of Menefessi is a suppressed seat 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 ...

. There are only two documented bishops of Menefessi. *The Catholic Mensurio who attended the Carthage conference of 411, which brought together the Catholic and Donatist bishops of Roman Africa; on that occasion Menefessi did not have any

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 ...

bishops. *Servo took part in the synod gathered in Carthage by the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

king of Hunaric in 484, after which he was exiled. Today Menefessi survives as a titular bishop's seat; the current titular bishop is José Trinidad González Rodríguez, former auxiliary bishop of Guadalajara. The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic

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 ...

. It has had the following incumbents, both of the lowest (episcopal) and intermediary (archiepiscopal) ranks : * Titular Bishop Ignatius John Doggett,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the t ...

(O.F.M.) (1969.06.06 – 1976.07.07) * Titular Archbishop

Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, CICM Missionaries, C.I.C.M. (; 3 December 1930, Belgian Congo – 6 January 2007, Leuven, Belgium) was a Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese Catholic prelate who served as ...

Scheutists The CICM Missionaries, officially known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary () and often abbreviated as C.I.C.M, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men established in 1862 by the Belgian Cathol ...

(C.I.C.M.) (1976.07.08 – 1977.11.11), later

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of Santa Lucia a Piazza d’Armi (1991.06.28 – 2007.01.06) * Titular Bishop István Ács,

Pauline Fathers The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit (; abbreviated OSPPE), commonly called the Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Catholic Church founded in Hungary during the 13th century. This name is derived from the hermit Saint Paul of Theb ...

(O.S.P.P.E.) (1988.12.23 – 1993.03.27) * Titular Bishop José Trinidad González Rodríguez (1997.02.21 – 2024.04.01),

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. ...

-emeritus of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

GigaCatholic with titular incumbent biography links
Catholic titular sees in Africa Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa