 | It has been suggested that 1518 revival besplit out into another article titledRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis. (Discuss)(February 2025) |
 | It has been suggested that portions ofChristianity in the Roman Africa province besplit from it andmerged into this article. (Discuss)(February 2025) |
Archdiocese of Carthage Archidioecesis Carthaginensis | |
|---|---|
| Bishopric | |
 Early Christian quarter in ancientCarthage | |
| Incumbent: Cyriacus of Carthage (last residing ca. 1070) Agostino Casaroli (last titular archbishop 1979) | |
| Location | |
| Country | Roman Empire Vandal Kingdom Byzantine Empire Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Fatimid Caliphate French protectorate of Tunisia Tunisia |
| Ecclesiastical province | Early African church |
| Metropolitan | Carthage |
| Headquarters | Carthage |
| Coordinates | 36°51′10″N10°19′24″E / 36.8528°N 10.3233°E /36.8528; 10.3233) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | African Rite |
| Established | 2nd century |
| Dissolved | In partibus infidelium in 1519 |
| Leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Titular archbishop | Vacant since 1979 |
TheArchdiocese of Carthage is aLatin Catholic titular see originally established as a diocese inCarthage,Roman Empire, in the 2nd century.Agrippinus was the first named bishop, appointed around 230 AD.
The diocese, in its earlier form, was to theEarly African church what theDiocese of Rome was to theCatholic Church in Italy.[1] The archdiocese used theAfrican Rite, a variant of theWestern liturgical rites inLatin language, possibly a local use of the primitiveRoman Rite. Famous figures includeSaint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions (died c. 203),Tertullian (c. 155–240),Cyprian (c. 200–258),Caecilianus (floruit 311),Saint Aurelius (died 429), andEugenius of Carthage (died 505). Tertullian and Cyprian are both consideredLatin Church Fathers of theLatin Church.
Tertullian, a theologian of partBerber descent, was instrumental in the development oftrinitarian theology, and was the first to applyLatin language extensively in his theological writings. As such, Tertullian has been called "the father ofLatin Christianity"[2][3] and "the founder of Western theology."[4] Carthage remained an important center of Christianity, hosting severalcouncils of Carthage.
Carthage exercised informalprimacy as anarchdiocese, being the most important center of Christianity in the whole ofRoman Africa, corresponding to most of today's Mediterranean coast and inland ofNorthern Africa. As such, it enjoyed the title of primate of Africa:
In the 6th century, turbulent controversies in teachings affected the diocese:Donatism,Arianism,Manichaeism, andPelagianism. Some proponents established their own parallel hierarchies.
The city of Carthage fell to theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb with theBattle of Carthage (698). The episcopal see remained but Christianity declined underpersecution. 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 theArchdiocese of Tunis. The titular see of Carthage has been vacant since 1979.
The temporal importance of the city of Carthage in theRoman Empire had previously been restored byJulius Caesar andAugustus. When Christianity became firmly established around theRoman province ofAfrica Proconsulare, Carthage became its natural ecclesiastical seat.[5] The Diocese of Carthage was to theEarly African church what theDiocese of Rome was to theCatholic Church in Italy.[1] The archdiocese used theAfrican Rite, a variant of theWestern liturgical rites inLatin language, possibly a local use of the primitiveRoman Rite.
In Christian traditions, some accounts give as the first bishop of CarthageCrescens, ordained bySaint Peter, or Speratus, one of theScillitan Martyrs.[6]Epenetus of Carthage is found inPseudo-Dorotheus andPseudo-Hippolytus lists ofseventy disciples.[7] The account of the martyrdom ofSaint 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 ofThuburbo Minus. The first certain historically documented bishop of Carthage isAgrippinus around the 230s.[8] Also historically certain is Donatus, the immediate predecessor ofCyprian (249–258).[6][9][10][11][12]
In the 3rd century, at the time of Cyprian, the bishops of Carthage exercised a real though not formalized primacy in theEarly African Church.[13] not only in theRoman province ofProconsular Africa in the broadest sense (even when it was divided into three provinces through the establishment ofByzacena andTripolitania), but also, in some supra-metropolitan form, over the Church inNumidia andMauretania. 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.[13]
Carthage exercised informalprimacy as anarchdiocese, being the most important center of Christianity in the whole ofRoman Africa, corresponding to most of today's Mediterranean coast and inland ofNorthern Africa. As such, it enjoyed the title of primate of Africa.
Cyprian faced opposition within his own diocese over the question of the proper treatment of thelapsi who had fallen away from the Christian faith under persecution.[14]
More than eighty bishops, some from distant frontier regions ofNumidia, attended theCouncil of Carthage (256).
A division in the church that came to be known as theDonatist 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 EmperorDiocletian. The Donatists also opposed the involvement ofEmperor Constantine 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, wasAugustine, bishop ofHippo Regius. 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 theCouncil of Carthage (411),[6] Donatist communities continued to exist as late as the 6th century.
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 byAugustine, is placed by some before, by others after, the time of Cyprian. There is greater certainty about the 4th-century bishops:Mensurius, bishop by 303, succeeded in 311 byCaecilianus, who was at theFirst Council of Nicaea and who was opposed by the Donatist bishop Majorinus (311–315). Rufus participated in an anti-Arian council held in Rome in 337 or 340 underPope Julius I. He was opposed byDonatus Magnus, the true founder of Donatism. Gratus (344– ) was at theCouncil of Sardica and presided over theCouncil 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 someBerber tribes had converted en masse.
The next bishop wasSaint Aurelius, who in 421 presided over another council at Carthage and was still alive in 426. His Donatist opponent wasPrimianus, who had succeededParmenianus in about 391.[6] A dispute between Primian andMaximian, a relative of Donatus, resulted in the largest Maximian schism within the Donatist movement.
Capreolus was bishop of Carthage when the Vandals conquered the province. Unable for that reason to attend theCouncil of Ephesus in 431 as chief bishop of Africa, he sent his deacon Basula or Bessula to represent him. In about 437, he was succeeded byQuodvultdeus, whomGaiseric exiled and who died inNaples. A 15-year vacancy followed.Pope Leo I confirmed the primacy of the bishop of Carthage in 446: "Indeed, after theRoman Bishop, the leading Bishop and metropolitan for all Africa is the Bishop of Carthage."[15][16][17]
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, byHuneric in 484, recalled in 487, but in 491 forced to flee toAlbi in Gaul, where he died. When the Vandal persecution ended in 523, Bonifacius became bishop of Carthage and held aCouncil in 525.[6]
TheEastern Roman Empire established itspraetorian prefecture of Africa after the reconquest of northwestern Africa during theVandalic War 533–534. Bonifacius was succeeded by Reparatus, who held firm in theThree Chapters Controversy and in 551 was exiled toPontus, where he died. He was replaced by Primosus, who accepted the emperor's wishes on the controversy. He was represented at theSecond Council of Constantinople in 553 by the bishop of Tunis. Publianus was bishop of Carthage from before 566 to after 581. Dominicus is mentioned in letters ofPope Gregory the Great between 592 and 601. Fortunius lived at the time ofPope Theodore I (c. 640) and went to Constantinople in the time ofPatriarch Paul II of Constantinople (641 to 653). Victor became bishop of Carthage in 646.
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 ofPope Leo IX on 27 December 1053 show that the diocese of Carthage was still a residential see. The texts are given in thePatrologia Latina ofMigne.[18] They were written in reply to consultations regarding a conflict between the bishops of Carthage andGummi 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.[6]: p. 8 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 ofAfrica is the bishop of Carthage,[19] while the bishop ofGummi, 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[20] 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".[21]When in the 19th century the residential see of Carthage was for a while restored, CardinalCharles-Martial-Allemand Lavigerie had these words inscribed in letters of gold beneath the dome of his great cathedral.[22] 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 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.[23][24]
After theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb, the church gradually died out along with thelocal Latin dialect. TheIslamization 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 ofbishoprics in theMaghreb region was 47 including 10 in southern Tunisia. In 1053,Pope Leo IX commented that only five bishoprics were left inAfrica.[25]
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 ofPope Formosus. In 980, Christians of Carthage contacted PopeBenedict VII, asking to declare Jacob as anarchbishop.Leo IX declared the bishop of Carthage as the "first archbishop andmetropolitan of all Africa" when a bishop ofGummi in Byzacena declared the region ametropolis. By the time ofGregory 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.[26] Native Christianity is attested in the 15th century, though it was not in communion in with the Catholic church.[27]
Thebishop 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 PopeInnocent IV.[28]
In 1518, the Archdiocese of Carthage was revived as aCatholic titular see. It was briefly restored as a residential episcopal see 1884–1964, after which it was supplanted by theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis. The last titular Archbishop of Carthage,Agostino Casaroli, remained in office until 1979. Since then, the titular see has remained vacant.
church of africa carthage.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Mesnage, Joseph;Toulotte, Anatole (1912).L'Afrique chrétienne : évêchés et ruines antiques. Description de l'Afrique du Nord. Musées et collections archéologiques de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie (in French). Vol. 17. Paris: E. Leroux. pp. 1–19.OCLC 609155089. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Cheyne, Thomas K.; Black, J. Sutherland, eds. (1903)."Epaenetus".Encyclopaedia Biblica. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan. col. 1300.OCLC 1084084. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Hefele, Karl J. von, ed. (1894).A history of the Christian councils from the original documents, to the close of the council of Nicaea, A.D. 325. Vol. 1. Translated by William R. Clark (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. pp. 93–98.OCLC 680510498.
36°48′01″N10°10′44″E / 36.80028°N 10.17889°E /36.80028; 10.17889
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