Titular see

A titular see in the Roman Catholic Church is a diocese that now exists in title only. It is led by a ceremonial titular bishop, an honorific granted on certain priests by the Pope. Bishops who do not have proper authority over an existing diocese are normally given a titular see by the Vatican. The Roman Curia maintains a regular position on titular sees. It states, "It is the custom of the apostolic see to confer on these bishops the title of one of those churches which in days past flourished with the splendor of virtue and the progress of religion, even though as a result of the changes and ravages of time they may now have lost their ancient resplendent glory." While the Vatican hopes that titular sees will one day become active dioceses once again, it realizes in most cases the chances of that happening are low.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the historical expansion of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church expanded its realm. However, in some areas of the world where the religion once flourished, the presence of the Roman Catholic Church has now diminished or disappeared. Local churches split off from the larger Church while others were converted to Islam. The Roman Catholic Church adopted the practice of assigning bishops to titular sees as a way of remembering those dioceses. Until 1882, such titular sees were distinguished by the Latin phrase in partibus infidelium http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08025a.htm or more often simply in partibus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roman Catholic Church: The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest organizational body of Christians. Its membership is over one billion. 1,085,557,000 is the figure, rounded to the nearest thousand, given in the 2003 Statistical Yearbook of the Church, page 43. Because of obstacles to reg...

Diocese: In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see, though more often the term episcopal see means the office held by the bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, an important diocese, governed ...

Titular bishop: A titular bishop is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who is not the head of a functioning diocese (Code of Canon Law, Canon 376). Bishops belonging to this category include coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, retired bishops, Cardinal Bishops of suburbicarian dioceses, vicars apostolic, nunc...

Titular see related Images and Photos (experimental)

See	See Bali	See Birds	See America
See America	See Spot Run (DVD)	See Sally Go	See No Evil
See No Evil	See India 1938	See Here, Private Hargrove	I see dead pixels.