BISACCIA
581
BISHOP
sees of Edessa (Kerameus, ed., "'kvixSora "EKKtiviKi. ,
Ixv); the name is written iiOpTrj in a later redaction
(ibid., Ixix), and Virchi in an old Latin translation
(Tobler and Molinier, Itinera Hierosolymitana, I,
322). Birtha was destroyed by Timour-Leng in the
fourteenth century. Birejik is to-day the chief
town of a caza in the vilayet of Aleppo with 10,000
inhabitants, including 1,500 Cliristians, all Armeni-
ans, one-half of whom are Catholics.
Ptolemy (V, xviii, xix) speaks of a fortress Birtha on the Tigris in Southern Mesopotamia and of an- other in Arabia on the Euplirates below Thapsacus. The site of the first is unknown, the latter is at Ed- Deir (Ritter, Erdkunde, XI, 691), but perhaps both are the same as Birtha or Macedonopolis.
Lequien, OrCrns Christ.. U, 985; Cuinet. La Turquie d'Asif, II. 265-269; Georgius Cyprius, ed. Gelzer, 154; Gam.s, Series Episcoporum, 437.
L. Petit.
Bisaccia. See Sant' Angelo de' Lombahdi.
Bisarchio, Diocese of, situated in Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, district of Nuoro, and suffra- gan to the Archdiocese of Sassari. The episcopal residence, however, is at Ozieri. Nothing is knowTi as to the early history of Christianity in either the city or Diocese of Bisarchio. The first bishop men- tioned is Costantino Madrone (c. 1102), who was suc- ceeded in 1116 by Bishop Pietro. The bishop's resi- dence was changed several times, once to Giracle, and again to Ardera. In 1503, at the death of Fra Calcerando, bishop of this see, Bisarchio was incorpo- rated into the Diocese of Alghero. The diocese was re-established by Pius VII in his Bull of 9 March, 1803, and bestow'ed upon Giannantioco Azzei, who in 1819 was promoted to the archiepiscopal See of Oristano, his native place. The episcopal residence was then definitely transferred to Ozieri. The cathe- dral, built in 1153, is well planned.
The Diocese of Bisarchio contains 24 parishes, 116 churches, chapels, and oratories, 78 secular priests, 25 seminarists, and a population of 40,000.
Cappelletti, Le ckiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1844); Annuario ted. (Rome, )906).
U. Benigni.
Bisceglie. See Trani and Barletta.
Bishop (A. S. Biscxip, Bisceop, Ger. Bischoj; from Gr. irlaKOTToi, an overseer, through Lat. episcopus; It. vescovo; O. Fr. vesque; Fr. evcque. See Murray, "New Eng. Diet.", Oxford, 1888, I, 878), the title of an ecclesiastical dignitary who possesses the fullness of the priesthood to rule a diocese as its chief
fastor. in due submission to the primacy of the pope. t is of Catholic faitli that bishops are of Divine in- stitution. In the hierarchy of order they possess powers superior to those of priests and deacons; in the liierarchy of jurisdiction, by Christ's will, they are appointed for the government of one portion of the faithful of the Church, under the direction and authority of the sovereign pontiff, who can deter- mine and restrain their powers, but not annihilate them. They are the successors of the Apostles, though they do not possess all the prerogatives of the latter. (Council of Trent, Sess. XXIII, ch. iv; can. vi, vii. See College, Apostolic.) The episco- pate is monarchical. By the will of Christ, the supreme authority in a diocese does not belong to a college of priests or of bishops, but it resides in the single personality of the chief. The subject will be treated under five heads: I. Historical Origin; II. Present Legislation; III. Rights and Powers of the Bishop; IV. Obligations of the Bishop; V. Non- Catholic use.
I. Hi.stohical Origim. — The historical origin of
the episcopate is much controverted; very diverse
hypotheses have been proposed to explain the texts
of the inspired writings and of the Apostolic Fathers
11.— 37
relating to the primitive ecclesiastical hierarchy.
They are most easily found in the work of von Dunin-
Borkowski, on the latest researches concerning the
origin of the episcopate (Die neueren Forschungen
iiber die Anfiinge des Episkopats, Freiburg, 1900).
The Apostohc and consequently the Divine origin
of the monarchical episcopate has always been con-
tested but especially so since Protestantism put
forward the doctrine of a universal Christian priest-
hood. At the present day, rationalistic and Protes-
tant writers, even those who belong to the Anglican
Church, reject the Apostolic institution of the episco-
pate; many of them relegate its origin to the second
century. Lijuing attempts to prove that originally
there were several different organizations, that some
Christian communities were administered by a body
of presbyters, others by a college of bishops, others
again by a single bishop. It is the last named
form of organization, he declares, which has pre-
vailed (Gemeindeverfassung des Urchristentums,
Halle, 1889). Holtzmann thinks that the primitive
organization of the churches was that of the
Jewish synagogue; that a college of presbyters or
bishops (synonymous words) governed the Jud^o-
Christian communities; that later this organization
was adopted by the Gentile churches. In the second
century one of these presbyter-bishops became the
ruling bishop. The cause of this lay in the need of
unity, which manifested itself when in the second
century heresies began to appear. (Pastoralbriefe,
Leipzig, 1880.) Hatch, on the contrary, finds the
origin of the episcopate in the organization of cer-
tain Greek rehgious associations, in which one meets
with iiriaKOTToi (superintendents) charged with the
financial administration. The primitive Christian
communities were administered by a college of
presbyters; those of the presbyters who administered
the finances were called bishops. In the large
towns, the whole financial administration was cen-
tralized in the hands of one such officer, who soon be-
came the ruling bishop (The Organization of the
Early Christian Churches, Oxford, 1881). According
to Hamack (whose theory has varied several times),
it was those who had received the special gifts known
as the charismata (xa.plap.aTa), above all the gift
of public speech, who possessed all authority in the
primitive community. In addition to these we
find bishops and deacons who possess neither au-
thority nor disciplinary power, who were charged
solely with certain functions relative to administra-
tion and Divine worship. The members of the com-
munity itself were divided into two classes: the
elders (irpf<r/3i/re/)oi) and the youths (wuTe/joi).
A college of presbyters was established at an early
date at Jerusalem and in Palestine, but elsewhere not
before the second centurj'; its members were chosen
from among the irpeaSirepoi, and in its hands lay
all authority and disciplinary power. Once estab-
lished, it was from this college of presbyters that
deacons and bishops were chosen. ^\■hcn those
officials who had been endowed with the cliarismatic
gifts had passed away, the community tlelegated
several bishops to replace them. At a later date,
the Christians realized the advantages to be derived
from entrusting the supreme direction to a single
bishop. However, as late as the year 140, tlic (iriiiiiii-
zation of the various communities was still widely di-
vergent. The monarchic episcopate owes its origin
to the need of doctrinal unity, which made itself felt
at the time of the crisis caused by the Gnostic
heresies. (Von Dunin-Borkowski, 100-101.)
J. B. Lightfoot. who may be regarded as an authoritative representative of the Anglican Church, holds a less radical system. The Primitive Church, he says, had no organization, but was very soon conscious of the necessity of organizing. At first the apostles appointed deacons; later, in imitation
