Titular church

A titular church (from the Latin titulus ecclesiae ) is a church in Rome in rank of a parish church, which is assigned to a cardinal. This is used at this church as pastor, and thus belongs to the class of cardinal priests. In practice, however, the Cardinal exerts its parish Royal Office is not even out, but has other tasks, usually as a diocesan bishop or to the Roman Curia. The actual care of the parish in the pastoral care and management takes usually a local priest, while the cardinal rather assumes a role as patron. The establishment of the titular church of the close connection of the cardinals with the Pope is underlined, in whose diocese they nominally protrude a community.

According to the number of cardinal priests today there are about 150 titular churches that are listed in the list of Roman titular churches.

Title diakonia

The term titular church today is often used interchangeably with the title of diakonia. However, these are not parish, but emerge from the early Christian diakonia stations. The holder of a title diakonia are therefore not used as a pastor, but as deacons and belong to the class of Cardinal cardinal deacons. These designations are historical in origin and not related to the actual consecration level of security holder that are a few exceptions, all consecrated bishops since the modern age and beyond its titular church also exercise the office of a bishop.

The list of Roman title diaconiae contains the 69 Roman churches that are raised to the title diakonia.

Origins and history

The origin of the name is variously explained:

  • These churches give the Cardinals the title.
  • The oldest churches title went back to apartment buildings, to their front often the owner's name was listed.
  • The titular churches were assigned to those presbyters who were destined to serve the Church as a whole.

The last statement is confirmed largely by the legal sources of ancient literature. The early church in Rome in the first century was divided into seven regions under Clement of Rome. The titular churches were no ordinary parishes pleno iure, but agencies led by the papal church with central administration in the Lateran. The presbyters, who conducted a titular church, this had a highlighted rank as cardinal presbytery. With the number of members appointed by the Pope, Cardinal Priest of the titular churches increased.

From the 4th century the existing buildings were replaced by magnificently furnished basilicas, also new basilicas were built as titular churches. In the 6th century is known 25 titular churches, since the 16th century, there are 50 Since the Popes John XXIII. 1959, following Paul VI him. on the set of Pope Sixtus V in 1586 number of 50 cardinal priests went far beyond new titles churches were established.

Important titular churches

  • San Leone Magno - Cardinal Karl Lehmann
  • Santo Stefano Rotondo - Cardinal Friedrich Wetter
  • Santa Sabina Aventine - Cardinal Jozef Tomko
  • Santa Maria in Trastevere - Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla
  • Sant'Andrea della Valle - Cardinal Giovanni Canestri
  • Santa Pudenziana - Cardinal Joachim Meisner
  • Santa Maria sopra Minerva - Cardinal Cormac Murphy - O'Connor (former Primate of England)
  • San Girolamo dei Croati - Cardinal Josip Bosanić
  • Santi Domenico e Sisto - Cardinal Georges Cottier (former home of the Pope Theologian )
  • Sant'Atanasio dei Greci - Cardinal Lucian Mureşan ( Greek Catholic Major Archbishop Romania)
  • Sant'Eusebio all'Esquilino - Cardinal Daniel DiNardo Nicholas
  • San Marcello - Cardinal Giuseppe Betori ( Archbishop of Florence)
Churches of Rome Cardinal (Catholicism) San Marcello al Corso
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