Bela (Epirus)

Bela is located near the site of the modern Vella Monastery, some 2 km south of Kalpaki.[1] The name is of Slavic origin.[1] The fortress survived until the mid-20th century, when it was documented by N. G. L. Hammond; however, the Second World War and its aftermath, as well as the operation of a quarry on the eastern side of the hill, have destroyed most of the remains described by Hammond.[2]

Bela first appears in the mid-10th century, when the Byzantine Empire's Notitiae Episcopatuum mention the see of "Photice, that is Bela" (Φωτικῆς ἤτοι Βελᾶς), implying that the seat of the bishopric of Photice, a suffragan of the Metropolis of Naupaktos, had been moved to Bela. This move was temporary, since from the mid-11th century, Photice is again mentioned without further additions.[3] Its only recorded bishop during that time, Constantine, is known from a 10th-century episcopal seal.[4]

From the early 13th century, however, Bela is attested as a separate bishopric, held by Manuel Makres.[1] It is possible that during the 13th century, Bela formed also a province (theme), but this is unclear.[1] It appears that by 1367, Bela and nearby Dryinopolis were no longer suffragans of Naupaktos, but of the Metropolis of Ioannina, as indeed is confirmed from the late 15th century on.[1]

In 1380, Bela was captured by the Ottoman Turks under Lala Şahin Pasha,[5] but in 1382 it came under the control of John Spata's son-in-law Marchesano.[2]

The see, Eastern Orthodox throughout its existence, was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric. It has had the following incumbents:[6]

• José Alves Martins (1935.11.15 – death 1950.04.14) as emeritate
• Bernardo Arango Henao, Jesuits (S.J.) (1950.04.18 – 1962.10.27), while Apostolic Vicar of Barrancabermeja (Colombia)
• Gerard William Tickle (1963.10.12 – death 1994.09.14), while Military Vicar of Great Britain (UK) (1963.10.12 – 1978.04.24) and on emeritate
• Gerald Frederick Kicanas (1995.03.20 – 2001.10.30), while Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago (Illinois, USA)
• Santiago Silva Retamales (2002.02.16 – 2015.07.07), while Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso (Chile)
• Ricardo Orlando Seirutti (2015.11.07 – today), Auxiliary Bishop of Córdoba (Argentina)

• GCatholic data for all sections
• Raymond Janin, lemma 'Belle' in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. VII, 1934, col. 794
• Soustal, Peter; Koder, Johannes (1981). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 3: Nikopolis und Kephallēnia (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-0399-8.