Gratianopolis (Mauretania Caesariensis)

Gratianopolis was a Roman city in the province Mauretania Caesariensis in the Maghreb, one of several (re)named after the emperor Gratian.

It is only known from mentions in church council minutes. Its history, location and present condition are unknown.

Ecclesiastical history

Gratianopolis was important enough in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis to serve as a suffragan for its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae's Metropolitan Archbishop.

It sent bishops to several 5th-century church councils:

• Publicius (Catholic) and Deuterius (Donatist), both at the Conference of Carthage in 411
• Thalassius, present at the Conference of 480.

The see was to fade, and apparently does not figure in a list of the bishoprics of the province preserved in a document of the sixth and seventh centuries, unless it be disguised under the native name (see "Byzantinische Zeitschrift", 1892, II, 26, 31).

Titular see

Since 1652, it has been revived as a Latin titular bishopric of the Catholic Church.

It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :

• Theodorus Skuminowicz (1652.08.12 – 1668.09.24)
• Mikolaj Słupski (1669.06.03 – 1691?)
• Jan Dłużewski (1696.06.18 – 1720)
• Michael Piechowski (1721.02.12 – 1724)
• Dominicus Invitti (1724.11.29 – 1725.09.05), later Titular Archbishop of Sardes (1725.09.05 – ?)
• Franciscus Josephus Mikolitsch (1789.12.14 – 1793.12.04)
• Tomasz Chmielewski (1837.10.02 – 1844.07.30)
• Ignazio Persico (德斯馬曾), Capuchin Franciscans (O.F.M. Cap.) (1854.03.08 – 1870.03.11), as Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Bombay (India) (1854.03.08 – 1856.12.19), Apostolic Vicar of Lhassa 拉薩 (Tibet, China) (1856.12.19 – 1860); later Bishop of Savannah (USA) (1870.03.20 – 1874.06.20), Titular Bishop of Bolina (1874.06.23 – 1879.03.26) & Coadjutor Bishop of Aquino, Sora e Pontecorvo (Italy) (1874.06.20 – 1879.03.26), succeeding as Bishop of Aquino, Sora e Pontecorvo (1879.03.26 – 1887.03.14), then Titular Archbishop of Tamiathis (1887.03.14 – 1893.01.16), Secretary of Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith (1891.06.13 – 1893.05.30), created Cardinal-Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli (1893.01.19 – 1895.12.07), Prefect of the Roman Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics (1893.05.30 – 1895.12.07)
• Edouard Charles Fabre (1873.04.01 – 1876.05.11) as Coadjutor Bishop of Montréal (Canada) (1873.04.01 – 1876.05.11), succeeding as suffragan Bishop of Montréal (1876.05.11 – 1886.06.08), promoted first Metropolitan Archbishop of Montréal (Canada) (1886.06.08 – 1896.12.30)
• Pascal Bili, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1876.11.20 – 1878.05.12)
• Ottaviano Rosario Sabetti, Redemptorists (C.SS.R.) (1880.10.22 – 1881.03.28)
• Francesco Lönhart (1881.04.05 – 1882.03.30)
• Marie-Laurent-François-Xavier Cordier, Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) (1882.06.18 – 1895.08.14)
• Ferdinand Jan Nepomucenus Kalous, C.SS.R. (1891.10.01 – 1907.09.19)
• Isaias Papadopulos (1911.06.28 – 1932.01.18)
• Dionisio Leonida Varouhas (1932.06.11 – 1957.01.28)
• Hyakinthos Gad (1958.02.17 – 1975.01.30)
• Anárghyros Printesis (1975.06.28 – 2012.03.18)
• Dimitrios Salachas (2012.05.14 – ...), Apostolic Exarch of Greece of the Greeks (Greece)

Sources, References and External links

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

• GCatholic with titular incumbent biography links