Titular bishop

A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a

Oriental Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place. There are more bishops than there are functioning dioceses. Therefore, a priest appointed not to head a diocese as its diocesan bishop but to be an auxiliary bishop, a papal diplomat, or an official of the Roman Curia is appointed to a titular see

.

Catholic Church

In the

Christian church, titular sees serve that purpose for bishops without a diocese. At the same time, the office of titular bishop memorializes ancient Churches, most of which were suppressed because they fell into the hands of non-Christian conquerors. For this reason the former terminology was not "titular bishop" but "bishop in infidel regions" (in partibus infidelium). In recent times the names of titular sees are drawn also in numerous cases from those of former dioceses which were absorbed into other dioceses or expanded and hence moved to larger towns and cities.^{[citation needed}

]

Since 1970, there are two more exceptions. Diocesan bishops who resign their see or are transferred to a non-diocesan appointment are no longer habitually transferred to a titular see. Instead, they take the title Bishop (or Archbishop) Emeritus of the last see. Also, coadjutors are no longer named to titular sees, instead taking the title Coadjutor Bishop (or Coadjutor Archbishop) of the see they will inherit. In other cases titular bishops still take a titular see.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 2019, titular sees are no longer being assigned to new Vicars Apostolic.^{[citation needed]}

When

Gerald Kicanas^[3] became Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson in 2001, he ceased being Titular Bishop of Bela

. He remained a titular bishop until he succeeded Manuel Moreno in 2003, but his official title changed from "Titular Bishop of Bela" to "Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson".

Cardinal Bishops of

Cardinal Bishop of Ostia

, in addition to the suburbicarian see he previously held.

Occasionally, the transfer of a diocesan bishop to a titular see has been used by the Holy See to strip of responsibilities a bishop whose behavior was disapproved. For instance, in 1995, Jacques Gaillot, known for his activism on Catholic-sensitive social and political topics (such as support for contraception and abortion), was transferred from the see of Évreux in France to Parthenia, a titular see in Algeria, instead of becoming Bishop Emeritus of Évreux.^{[citation needed]}

Eastern Orthodox Church

Titular bishops and titular metropolitans are often appointed in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Ecumenical Patriarchate

In the

Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923.^[6]

Serbian Orthodox Church

In the Serbian Orthodox Church, titular bishops are usually appointed to serve as auxiliary bishops, assisting diocesan bishops in various fields of diocesan administration.^[7] One example of such a bishop was Varnava Nastić (1914–1964), titular bishop of Hvosno who had the responsibility of administering the Diocese of Dabar-Bosnia.

References

^ Code of Canon Law (1983), canon 376. Quote=Bishops to whom the care of some diocese is entrusted are called diocesan; others are called titular
^ "Bishop Francis Joseph Green". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
^ "Bishop Gerald Frederick Kicanas". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
^ "Angelo Cardinal Sodano". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
^ "Bishop Marcello Semeraro". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
^ Kiminas 2009, pp. 6, 26–28, 49–50, 93, 140–143, 153, 163, 167, 172, 193, 215.
^ "Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church". Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.

Literature

Codex Iuris Canonici (Code of Canon Law), Vatican City: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1983.
Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC.
ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6
.

[1] Code of Canon Law (1983), canon 376. Quote=Bishops to whom the care of some diocese is entrusted are called diocesan; others are called titular

[2] "Bishop Francis Joseph Green". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

[3] "Bishop Gerald Frederick Kicanas". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

[4] "Angelo Cardinal Sodano". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

[5] "Bishop Marcello Semeraro". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

[FOOTNOTEKiminas20096,_26–28,_49–50,_93,_140–143,_153,_163,_167,_172,_193,_215-6] Kiminas 2009, pp. 6, 26–28, 49–50, 93, 140–143, 153, 163, 167, 172, 193, 215.

[7] "Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church". Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.

[3]

[6]

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