Sicilibba 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 town Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

of the Roman province of

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 ...

. The ancient town is tentatively identifiable with the ruins at Alaouine (or Alaouenine) in today's

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 ...

. Sicilibba was also the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of an ancient 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 ...

, suffraged by the Archdiocese of Carthage. There are four known (ancient) bishops of Sicilibba. *Sazio took part in the

Council of Carthage (256) 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 ...

called by Saint

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, ...

to discuss the issue of the lapsii, those who had fallen away from Christian belief. *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 ...

Quadraziano attended 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 ...

, between the

Catholic 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 ...

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 ...

s and

s 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 ...

. On that occasion Sicilibba had no Catholic bishop. * Pretestato participated in the council in Carthage in 419 called by Saint Aurelius. * Bonifacio took part in the synod assembled in Carthage in 484 by the

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 ...

King

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 ...

of the

Vandal Kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

, after which Boneface was exiled. To these bishops, Morcelli adds the donatist Honorius, mentioned in 337. However, According to Mesnage, it would not be the name of a bishop but of the adjective ''honoratum jugulum'' that is present in the text on which Morcelli leans. In that case it is to merely identify the Honored Bishop. Today Sicilibba survives only as a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

ric 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 ...

, The current bishop is Christoph Hegge, auxiliary

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

Known bishops

*Satius † (mentioned in 256) *(honorius)

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

337 *Quadraziano (mentioned in 411) (

) *Pretestato (mentioned in 419) *Bonifacio (mentioned in about 484) * Robert Louis Whelan (6 December 1967 – November 15, 1968 succeeded bishop of Fairbanks) *

Maurice Rigobert Marie-Sainte Maurice Rigobert Marie-Sainte, (4 January 1928 – 27 August 2017), born in Fort-de-France, was a Martinican Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1. ...

(December 19, 1968 – July 4, 1972 appointed archbishop of Fort-de-France) *

Arnaldo Ribeiro Arnaldo Ribeiro (January 7, 1930–December 15, 2009) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Ordained to the priesthood on March 13, 1954, in the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, Ribeiro ...

(November 6, 1975 – December 28, 1988 appointed archbishop of Ribeirão Preto) * Juozapas Matulaitis-Labukas (March 10, 1989 – December 24, 1991 appointed

Kaišiadorys Kaišiadorys (; Yiddish: קאָשעדאַר) is a city in central Lithuania. It is situated between Vilnius and Kaunas. Kaišiadorys is one of six Lithuanian diocese centres. It is home to the Transfiguration Cathedral, Kaišiadorys, Cathedral of ...

) * Ruggero Franceschini, (July 2, 1993 – October 11, 2004 appointed

archbishop of Smyrna 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 archdioc ...

) * Joseph Thomas Konnath (January 5, 2005 – January 25, 2010 named Eparca of Battery) * Christoph Hegge, (May 31, 2010La sede Sicilibba
at www.catholic-hierarchy.org – present)

References

{{coord missing, Tunisia Roman towns and cities in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa