Sita, Mauritania

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Sita is an ancient city and former diocese in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. It remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History[edit]

Sita, located somewhere in modern Algeria, was one of many cities important enough in the western part of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, in the papal sway, to become a suffragan diocese, but like most faded, plausibly at the 7th century advent of Islam.

Its only historically recorded bishops were:

Titular see[edit]

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Titular bishopric of Sita (Latin = Curiate Italian), Latin adjective Siten(sis).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:

  • Christian Herman Winkelmann (1933.09.13 – 1939.12.27) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Saint Louis (USA) (1933.09.13 – 1939.12.27), later Bishop of Wichita (USA) (1939.12.27 – death 1946.11.19)
  • Joseph O’Brien (1940.03.19 – 1945.04.07) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Hartford (USA) (1940.03.19 – 1945.04.07), succeeding as last suffragan Bishop of Hartford (USA) (1945.04.07 – 1953.08.06), (see) promoted first Metropolitan Archbishop of Hartford (1953.08.06 – retired 1968.11.20), emeritate as Titular Archbishop of Uthina (1968.11.20 – 1971.01.05); died 1976
  • Daniel Joseph Feeney (1946.06.22 – 1955.09.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of Portland in Maine (USA) (1946.06.22 – 1952.03.04); later Coadjutor Bishop of Portland in Maine (1952.03.04 – 1955.09.09), succeeding as Bishop of Portland in Maine (1955.09.09 – death 1969.09.15)
  • Alexander Carter (1956.12.10 – 1958.11.22) as Coadjutor Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie (Canada) (1956.12.10 – 1958.11.22); next succeeded as Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie (1958.11.22 – retired 1985.05.03), also President of Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (1967 – 1970); died 2002
  • Angelo Zambarbieri (1959.03.12 – 1960.05.06) as Coadjutor Bishop of Guastalla (Italy) (1959.03.12 – 1960.05.06), next succeeding as Bishop of Guastalla (1960.05.06 – death 1970.08.15)
  • James Ward (1960.07.02 – 1973.10.21) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Glasgow (Scotland, UK) (1960.07.02 – death 1973.10.21)
  • Enrique Alvear Urrutia (1974.02.09 – 1982.04.29) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Santiago (Chile) (1974.02.09 – death 1982.04.29); previously Titular Bishop of Columnata (1963.03.04 – 1965.06.07) as Auxiliary Bishop of Talca (Chile) (1963.03.04 – 1965.06.07), Bishop of San Felipe (Chile) (1965.06.07 – resigned 1974.02.09)
  • José Palmeira Lessa (1982.06.21 – 1987.10.30) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of (São Sebastião do) Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (1982.06.21 – 1987.10.30); next Bishop of Propriá (Brazil) (1987.10.30 – 1996.12.06), Coadjutor Archbishop of Aracaju (Brazil) (1996.12.06 – 1998.08.26) succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Aracaju (1998.08.26 – 2017.01.18)
  • Moacyr José Vitti, Stigmatines (C.S.S.) (1987.11.12 – 2002.05.15) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Curitiba (Brazil) (1987.11.12 – 2002.05.15), next Bishop of Piracicaba (Brazil) (2002.05.15 – 2004.05.19), Metropolitan Archbishop of above Curitiba (2004.05.19 – death 2014.06.26)
  • Štefan Sečka (2002.06.28 – 2011.08.04) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Spiš (Slovakia) (2002.06.28 – 2011.08.04), succeeding as Bishop of Spiš (2011.08.04 – ...)
  • Joaquim Wladimir Lopes Dias (2011.12.21 – 2015.03.04) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Vitória (Brazil) (2011.12.21 – 2015.03.04), also Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of Colatina (Brazil) (2014.05.14 – 2015.03.04), succeeding as Bishop of Colatina (2015.03.04 – ...)
  • Udo Markus Bentz (2015.07.15 – ...) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Mainz (western Germany), nor previous prelature

See also[edit]

Sources and external links[edit]

Bibliography
  • Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 468
  • Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, p. 283