Nyssa (Cappadocia)
Coordinates: 38°57′15″N 33°57′33″E / 38.954295°N 33.959229°E Nyssa (Ancient Greek: Νύσσα) was a small town and bishopric in Cappadocia, Asia Minor. It is important in the history of Christianity due to being the see of the prominent 4th century bishop Gregory of Nyssa. Today, its name continues to be used as a titular see in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
Site and location
The Antonine Itinerary places it on the road from Ancyra to Caesarea, between Parnassos and Asiana, 24 Roman miles from Parnassus and 32 from Asiana. Ptolemy's Geography places it at 68°20' 38°40 (in his degrees) in the Prefecture of Murimene (Ancient Greek: Στρατηγίας Μουριμηνῆς).[1] The Synecdemus and the Notitiae Episcopatuum indicate that Nyssa was in the Roman province of Cappadocia Prima.[2]
The site of Nyssa has been identified as near the modern town of Harmandalı, Ortaköy district, Aksaray province, in south-central Turkey.[3] The archaeological site consists of two tells, named Büyükkale (big castle) and Küçükkale (little castle), located 2 km to the north of Harmandalı.[1] Another proposed location associates it with the modern city of Nevşehir, but modern scholarship has cast serious doubt on this.[1][4]
William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography placed the town at a village, not otherwise mentioned, called Nirse or Nissa and said that it was anciently in a district called Muriane, not far from the river Halys.[5]
Ecclesiastical history
Nyssa was important enough in the Roman province of Cappadocia Prima to become a suffragan of it capital's Metropolitan, the Archdiocese of Caesarea in Cappadocia (Kayseri).
The earliest bishop of Nyssa whose name is known is Gregory of Nyssa, bishop of Nyssa from about 372 to 394 and brother of Basil the Great, bishop of Nyssa's metropolitan see, Caesarea in Cappadocia. The bishop at the time of the Council of Ephesus in 431 was Heraclides. Musonius took part in the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449, Ioannes in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, another Ioannes in the Third Council of Constantinople in 680, Paulus in the Trullan Council in 693, a third Ioannes in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, and Ignatius in the Photian Council of Constantinople (879). A 10th-century bishop named Germanus is known for his ecclesiastical writings.[6][7]
Titular see
The Eastern Orthodox Church has continued to appoint titular bishops of Nyssa even after the town and its Christian community ceased to exist. In practice, these titular bishops held jurisdiction over Orthodox Christian communities located elsewhere. Since 2012, the title "Bishop of Nyssa" is held by the bishop of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese.[8]
In the 18th century, the Roman Catholic Church also began appointing titular bishops of Nyssa (Latin: Nissa).[9]
The Catholic see is currently vacant, having had the following incumbents:
- Guillaume Tual (1715.02.04 – death 1716.02.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Strasbourg (France) (1715.02.04 – 1716.02.24)
- Tommaso Sextri, Dominican Order (O.P.) (1716.03.18 – 1721.08.14) as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Tonking (Vietnam; now Diocese of Hai Phòng) (1716.03.18 – 1721.08.14), next succeeding as Apostolic Vicar of Eastern Tonking (1721.08.14 – death 1737.08.08)
- Kryspin Cieszkowski (1772.12.14 – death 1792?) as Auxiliary Bishop of (Latin) Archdiocese of Lviv (Ukraine) (1772.12.14 – 1792?)
- Federico Guarini, Benedictine Confederation (O.S.B.) (1818.03.16 – 1828.06.23) as Bishop-Prelate of Territorial Prelature of Altamura (Italy) (1818 – 1828.06.23); later Bishop of Venosa (Italy) (1828.06.23 – death 1837.09)
- Joseph Feßler (1862.04.07 – 1865.03.27) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Brixen (Italy) (1862.04.07 – 1865.03.27); later Bishop of Sankt Pölten (Austria) ([1864.09.23] 1865.03.27 – death 1872.04.23)
- Angelo Di Pietro (1866.06.25 – 1877.12.28) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Velletri (Italy) (1866.06.25 – 1877.12.28); next Titular Archbishop of Nazianzus (1877.12.28 – 1893.01.16)as papal diplomat : Apostolic Delegate to Argentina (1877.12.28 – 1879.09.30), Apostolic Internuncio to Brazil (1879.09.30 – 1882.03.21), Apostolic Nuncio to Kingdom of Bavaria (1882.03.21 – 1887.05.23), Prefect of Sacred Congregation of the Council (1893.01.16 – 1902.07.20), created Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Bonifacio ed Alessio (1893.06.15 – 1903.06.22), Camerlengo of Sacred College of Cardinals (1895.03.18 – 1896), Prefect of Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars(1902.07.20 – 1902.11.27), Pro-Datary of His Holiness of Apostolic Dataria (1902.11.27 – 1908.06.29), transferred Cardinal-Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (1903.06.22 – death 1914.12.05), promoted Datary of His Holiness of Apostolic Dataria (1908.06.29 – 1914.12.05)
- Placido Maria Schiaffino (Italian), Olivetans (O.S.B. Oliv.) (1878.08.30 – 1885.07.27) as Roman Curia official : President of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1878.11.02 – 1884.11.18), Secretary of Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars (1884.11.18 – 1888.04.06); next created Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (1885.07.30 – 1889.09.23), Prefect of Sacred Congregation of the Index (1888.04.06 – 1889.09.23), Librarian of Vatican Apostolic Library (1889.02.20 – death 1889.09.23)
- Antonio Maria De Pol (1887.11.25 – 1888.03.04) as Coadjutor Bishop of Vicenza (Italy) (1887.11.25 – 1888.03.04); next succeeded as Bishop of Vicenza (1888.03.04 – 1892.07.04)
- Bartolomeo Bacilieri (1888.06.01 – 1900.04.01) as Coadjutor Bishop of Verona (Italy) (1888.06.01 – 1900.04.01); next succeeded as Bishop of Verona (1900.04.01 – 1923.02.14), created Cardinal-Priest of S. Bartolomeo all’Isola (1901.04.18 – death 1923.02.14)
- Francesco Giacci (1900.09.26 – 1904.07.03) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Frascati (Italy) (1900.09.26 – 1904.07.03); next Bishop of Marsi (Italy) (1904.07.03 – 1909.04.29), emeritate as Titular Bishop of Philomelium (1909.04.29 – death 1929.02.20)
- Giovanni Battista Arista, Oratorians (C.O.) (1904.11.14 – 1907.11.04) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Acireale (Italy) (1904.11.14 – 1907.11.04); next succeeded as Bishop of Acireale (1907.11.04 – death 1920.09.27)
- Laureano Vérez de Acevedo (Spaniard), Jesuit Order (S.J.) (1908.08.22 – death 1920.01.31), no actual prelature
- Jules-Alexandre Cusin (1920.03.08 – 1929.05.29) as Coadjutor Bishop of Diocese of Mende (France) (1920.03.08 – 1929.05.29); next succeeded as Bishop of Mende (1929.05.29 – 1937.06.05)
- Adriano Bernareggi (1931.12.16 – 1936.04.14) as Coadjutor Bishop of Bergamo (Italy) (1931.12.16 – 1936.04.14); next succeeded as Bishop of Bergamo (1936.04.14 – 1953.06.28), emeritate ('promoted') as Archbishop ad personam (1953 – death 1953.06.28)
- Biagio Budelacci (1936.06.18 – death 1973.08.27) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Frascati (Italy) (1936.06.18 – 1962) and on emeritate
- Roman Danylak (1992.12.16 – death 2012.10.07) as Apostolic Administrator sede plena of Toronto of the Ukrainians (Canada) (1992.12.16 – 1998.06.16) and on emeritate.
Notes
- 1 2 3 Pochoshajew, Igor. Nyssa in Kappadokien, (German), p. 6. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ↑ Sophrone Pétridès, "Nyssa" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1911)
- ↑ Talbert, Richard. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Princeton University Press, 2000, Map-by-map Directory, p. 980.
- ↑ Silvas, Anna. The Asketikon of St. Basil the Great, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 41. ISBN 0-19-927351-0
- ↑ William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854)
- ↑ Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 391-394
- ↑ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 440
- ↑ "Bishop Gregory of Nyssa". Website of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 941