Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens
The Archdiocese of Athens (Latin: Archidioecesis Atheniensis or Athenarum) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Greece. Its cathedra is found within the neoclassic Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, in the episcopal see of Athens.
Archdiocese of Athens Archidioecesis Atheniensis Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Καθολικών Αθηνών | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, Athens | |
| Location | |
| Country | Greece |
| Metropolitan | Immediately exempt to the Holy See |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 46,775 km2 (18,060 sq mi) |
| Population - Catholics | (as of 2015) 100,000 (  1.6%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 23 July 1875 |
| Cathedral | Καθεδρικός Ναός Αγ. Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου των Καθολικών (Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Theodoros Kontidis, S.J.[1] |
| Map | |
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History
The See of Athens is one of the oldest Christian bishoprics, dating back to Hierotheos the Thesmothete in the mid-1st century AD. In ca. 800, it was raised to a metropolitan see.
In 1205, the city was captured by the Crusaders, who had conquered Constantinople and dissolved the Byzantine Empire the year before. The city's incumbent Greek Orthodox bishop, Michael Choniates, retired to the island of Kea, and a Latin Catholic archbishop was installed in his place, with the French cleric Berard being elected to the post in 1206.[2][3]
The Crusaders largely maintained the ecclesiastical order they found, appointing Catholic bishops to replace the Orthodox prelates.[4] Thus, in a letter by Pope Innocent III to Berard in 1209, 11 suffragan sees are mentioned under Athens, identical to those under Byzantine rule, although most of them were de facto vacant: Negroponte (Egripontis), Thermopylae (Cermopilensis, seat in Bodonitsa), Davleia (Davaliensem), Aulon (Abelonensem), Oreoi (Zorconensis), Karystos (Caristiensem), Koroneia (Coroniacensem), Andros (Andrensem), Megara (Megarensem), Skyros (Squirensem), and Kea (Cheensem).[3][5] In the Provinciale Romanum, a list of the sees subordinate to the See of Rome, dating to some time before 1228, the number of suffragans is reduced to eight: Thermopylae, Daulia, Salona, Negroponte, Aulon, Oreoi, Megara, and Skyros.[3][6]
The Catholic see remained vacant for a period after the Catalan Company conquered the Duchy of Athens in 1311 due to the Catalans' conflict with the papacy, and a residential archbishop is not attested until around the mid-14th century.[7] Beginning with Dorotheus I ca. 1388, the Orthodox bishops of Athens, who had been continued to be appointed as titular holders since the Latin conquest, were allowed to resume residence in the city, but the Latin Archbishop retained his pre-eminent position until the conquest of the Duchy of Athens by the Ottoman Empire in 1456. The last Latin Archbishop, Nicholas Protimo, fled to Venetian-held Euboea, where he died in 1482. The Catholic see was held by titular archbishops thereafter.
On 23 July 1875, the see was restored as the modern Catholic Archdiocese of Athens, ministering to the Catholic inhabitants of the Greek capital and most of mainland Greece.
List of Archbishops of Athens
Medieval metropolitan archbishops
| Name | Appointed | Term ended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berard | summer 1206 | 1223? | Frenchman, replacing the exiled Orthodox archbishop Michael Choniates.[8] |
| Corrado di Sumo | 15 February 1253 | ? | |
| Uldrico | 20 May 1273 | ? | |
| Stefano Mangiatero, O.P. | 1300? | ? | |
| Henry | ca. 1305 | [9] | |
| Nicholas Salamon | 1328–1351 | Appointed in 1328 until his death in early 1351.[9] | |
| John | 8 June 1351 – 1357 | ? | Formerly archdeacon of Candia, died in office.[10] |
| Nicholas de Raynaldo | 9 June 1357 | ? | Venetian sub-deacon, dean of Negroponte, elected by the local canons and (re)confirmed by the Pope.[11] |
| Francis, O.F.M. | 20 August 1365 | ? | Elected by the local canons and (re)confirmed by the Pope.[11] |
| John | ? | Unknown, except as a name.[11] | |
| Antonio Ballester, O.F.M. | 27 March 1370 | 1387 | Catalan, and a prominent figure of Latin Greece. Loyal to the Roman papacy during the Western Schism, vicar of the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.[12] |
| Antonio Blasi [Dexart]?, O.Merc. | 14 May 1388 | 21 February 1403 | Catalan, appointed at the request of John I of Aragon by the Avignon papacy, although Athens had been captured by the Florentine adventurer Nerio Acciaioli. Consequently, Blasi never visited Athens, until his transfer to Cagliari in 1403.[13] |
| Gerard Boem, O.F.M. | 1388 | Appointed by the Roman papacy, represented by Bishop James of Argos as vicar in 1389-90 at least.[13] | |
| Lodovico Aliotti | 12 June 1392 | 1 June 1398 | Afterwards appointed Bishop of Volterra. Died 6 April 1411. |
| Franceschino, O.Cist. | ? | 9 May 1400 | Died. |
| Andrea de Lucha, O.Carm. | 6 September 140 | ? | |
| John Antony of Corinth | 2 August 1426 | ? | |
| Francesco | 5 November 1427 | ? | |
| Filippo Aulini | 18 May 1429 | ? | |
| Nicholas Protimo | 6 July 1446 | 1482 | Last archbishop under Latin rule. Fled to Negroponte after the Ottoman conquest in 1456. |
| Source(s):[14][15][16] | |||
Titular archbishops
| Name | Appointed | Term ended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni Nicolini | 26 April 1482 | ? | Previously Archbishop of Amalfi. |
| Alexander Gordon | 4 September 1551 | 11 November 1575 | Died |
| Attilio Amalteo | 14 August 1606 | 25 May 1633 | Died |
| Gaspare Mattei | 5 September 1639 | 14 December 1643 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of San Pancrazio |
| Nicolò Guidi di Bagno | 14 March 1644 | 9 April 1657 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Eusebio |
| Giacomo Altoviti | 29 July 1658 | 18 April 1667 | Afterwards appointed Titular Patriarch of Antioch |
| Carlo de' Vecchi | 27 April 1667 | 13 March 1673 | Died |
| Francesco Boccapaduli | 15 July 1675 | 23 November 1680 | Died |
| Marcello d'Aste | 10 December 1691 | 3 February 1700 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Ancona e Numana (personal title) |
| Filippo Antonio Gualtieri | 30 March 1700 | 21 November 1701 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Imola (personal title) |
| Giuseppe Vallemani | 5 December 1701 | 28 November 1707 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria degli Angeli |
| Pier Marcellino Corradini | 7 November 1707 | 21 November 1712 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina |
| Silvius de Cavalieri | 5 October 1712 | 11 January 1717 | Died |
| Bartolomeo Massei | 3 February 1721 | 8 January 1731 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Agostino |
| Nicola Saverio Albini | 8 January 1731 | 11 April 1740 | Died |
| Ludovico Merlini | 27 October 1740 | 21 July 1760 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca |
| Giovanni Carlo Boschi | 22 September 1760 | 21 July 1766 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo |
| Ignazio Reali | 26 September 1766 | 8 December 1767 | Died |
| Giuseppe Maria Contesini | 25 January 1768 | 28 February 1785 | Died |
| Giulio Cesare Zoglio | 27 June 1785 | 13 April 1795 | Died |
| Camillo Campanelli | 27 June 1796 | 23 September 1805 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Perugia (personal title) |
| Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri | 16 March 1808 | 27 September 1819 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Rimini (personal title) |
| Giovanni Francesco Falzacappa | 27 September 1819 | 10 March 1823 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Ancona e Numana (personal title) |
| Filippo Filonardi | 16 May 1823 | 3 July 1826 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Ferrara |
| Francesco Tiberi Contigliano | 2 October 1826 | 2 July 1832 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Jesi (personal title) |
| Ludovico Tevoli | 17 December 1832 | 17 October 1856 | Died |
| Mariano Falcinelli Antoniacci, O.S.B. | 21 December 1857 | 4 May 1874 | Afterwards appointed Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello |
| Source(s):[14][16][17][18][19][20][21] | |||
Modern metropolitan archbishops
| Incumbent | Appointed | Term ended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ioannis Marangos | 23 July 1875 | 17 December 1891 | Died |
| Giuseppe Zaffino | 29 April 1892 | 7 February 1895 | Died |
| Caietanus Maria de Angelis, O.F.M. Conv. | 10 May 1895 | 28 March 1900 | Died |
| Antonio Delenda | 29 April 1900 | 10 September 1911 | Died |
| Louis Petit, A.A. | 4 March 1912 | 24 June 1926 | Resigned |
| Giovanni Battista Filippucci | 25 January 1927 | 29 May 1947 | Afterwards appointed Archbishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos |
| Markos Sigalas | 22 February 1947 | 10 March 1950 | Died |
| Marios Makrionitis, S.J. | 11 March 1953 | 8 April 1959 | Died |
| Venediktos Printesis | 15 May 1959 | 17 November 1972 | Resigned |
| Nikolaos Foskolos | 25 June 1973 | 12 August 2014 | Retired |
| Sevastianos Rossolatos | 12 August 2014 | 14 July 2021 | Retired |
| Theodoros Kontidis, S.J. | 14 July 2021 | present | |
| Source(s):[14][22] | |||
Notes
- "Rinunce e nomine".
- Setton 1976, pp. 22–23, 407.
- Koder & Hild 1976, p. 84.
- Setton 1976, p. 406.
- Setton 1976, p. 408.
- Setton 1976, p. 409.
- Koder & Hild 1976, p. 86.
- Setton 1976, p. 462.
- Setton 1976, p. 461 (note 128).
- Setton 1976, pp. 461 (note 128), 463.
- Setton 1976, p. 463.
- Setton 1976, pp. 463–464 (esp. note 139).
- Setton 1976, p. 464 (note 140).
- "Archdiocese of Athens". gcatholic.org. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Eubel 1913, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 1, pp. 114–115.
- Eubel 1914, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 2, p. 98.
- "Athenae (Titular See)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Eubel 1923, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 3, p. 122.
- Eubel 1935, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 4, p. 99.
- Eubel 1952, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 5, p. 103.
- Eubel 1958, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, volume 6, pp. 104–105.
- "Archdiocese of Athēnai {Athens}". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
References
- Eubel, Konrad (1913). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1198–1431) (in Latin). Vol. 1. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Eubel, Konrad (1914). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1431–1503) (in Latin). Vol. 2. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Eubel, Konrad (1923). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1503–1592) (in Latin). Vol. 3. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Eubel, Konrad (1935). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1592–1667) (in Latin). Vol. 4. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Eubel, Konrad (1952). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1667–1730) (in Latin). Vol. 5. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Eubel, Konrad (1958). Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi (1730–1799) (in Latin). Vol. 6. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae.
- Koder, Johannes; Hild, Friedrich (1976). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 1: Hellas und Thessalia (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-0182-6.
- Setton, Kenneth M. (1976). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume I: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-114-0.
