Tarsus (titular see)

:"This is not Tarsus dei Maroniti (titular see)"

The archdiocese of Tarsus (Italian Tarso) is a Catholic titular see [ [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2t52.html Catholic Hierarchy page] ] .

History

Historically it was the metropolis of Cilicia Prima.

The first bishop, Helenus, dates from the third century; he went several times to Antioch in connexion with the dispute concerning Paul of Samosata [Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History", VI, xlvi; VII, v.] . Le Quien [Oriens christianus, II, 869-76.] mentions twenty-two of its bishops, of whom several are legendary. Among them are:

* Lupus, present at the Council of Ancyra in 314;
* Theodorus, at the Council of Nicaea in 325;
* Helladius, condemned at Ephesus, and who appealed to the pope in 433;
* the exegete Diodorus, teacher of Theodore of Mopsuestia and consequently one of the fathers of Nestorianism.

From the sixth century the metropolitan See of Tarsus had seven suffragan bishoprics (Echos d'Orient, X, 145); the Greek archdiocese is again mentioned in the tenth century (op. cit., X, 98), and has existed down to the present day, being comprised in the Patriarchate of Antioch. The Arabs took possession of Tarsus from the seventh century. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14461b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Tarsus ] ] .

Notes