Diocese of Ziqua is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church in North Africa.
Ziqua was an ancient Roman town of classical antiquity, in Roman North Africa, during the Roman Empire.[1][2][3]
It was on the road from the port at Neopolis to Thabbora in the hinterland, and is today identified with ruins at Henchir-Belaiet in Tunisia, and has given its name to the town of Zaghouan nearby.[4][5][6]
The ancient town was located at 36.393555, 10.1390015 and flourished from 330 BC – AD 640, with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The town was the cathedra of a bishopric.[7] which survives today as a titular bishopric of the Catholic province of Proconsolare; with Silvio José Báez Ortega of Nicaragua as the current bishop.[8]
History
The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Titular bishopric of Zica (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Zicen(sis) (Latin adjective).
It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, with an archiepiscopal exception:
- Titular Archbishop: Marius-Félix-Antoine Maziers (1966.01.24 – 1968.02.05) as Coadjutor Archbishop of Bordeaux (France) (1966.01.24 – 1968.02.05); next Metropolitan Archbishop of Bordeaux (France) (1968.02.05 – retired 1989.05.31), died 2008; previously Titular Bishop of Augustopolis in Phrygia (1959.12.17 – 1966.01.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Lyon (France) (1959.12.17 – 1966.01.24)
- Christopher Mwoleka (1969.03.06 – 1969.06.26) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Rulenge (Tanzania) (1969.03.06 – succession 1969.06.26); next Bishop of Rulenge (1969.06.26 – 1996.11.08), died 2002
- Joachim Mbadu Kikhela Kupika (1975.01.30 – 1975.11.22) as Coadjutor Bishop of Boma (Congo-Kinshasa) (1975.01.30 – 1975.11.22); next Bishop of Boma (1975.11.22 – retired 2001.05.21), emeritate as Titular Bishop of Belesasa (2001.05.21 – ...)
- Francisco Capiral San Diego (1983.06.06 – 1995.07.12)
- Luigi Locati (1995.12.15 – 2005.07.14)
- Silvio José Báez Ortega, OCD (2009.04.09 – ...) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Managua (Nicaragua) (2009.04.09 – ...)
References
- 1.R.B. Hitchner, Ziqua, Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places, 2016.
- 2.Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 32 F4 Ziqua.
- 3.Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- 4.Zaghouan at Rome Art Lover
- 5.The ancient city of ZIQUA Archived 2017-10-22 at the Wayback Machine.
- 6."Siti archeologici africani: Ziqua".
- 7.Diocese of Zica, at catholic-hierarchy.org.
- 8.Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 198, Number 16,181.