Ruins of the martyrium

The diocese of Hierapolis, was a Christian bishopric in Phrygia (modern central Turkey).

Through the influence of the Christian apostle Paul, a church was founded at Hierapolis while he was at Ephesus.[1] The Christian apostle Philip spent the last years of his life here.[2] The town's martyrium was alleged to have been built upon the spot where Philip was crucified in AD 80. His daughters were also said to have acted as prophetesses in the region.[3][4]

During the 4th century, Christianity had become the dominant religion and begun suppressing other faiths in the area. A see of the province of Phrygia Pacatiana,[5][6] the Byzantine emperor Justinian I raised the bishop of Hierapolis to the rank of metropolitan bishop in 531. The city's Roman baths were transformed into a Christian basilica. During the Byzantine period, the city continued to flourish and also remained an important centre for Christianity. Tiberiopolis was a suffragan see.

Bishops

Residential bishops

Titular Catholic bishops

References

  1. ^ Colossians 4:13.
  2. ^ Papias. Early Christian Writings.
  3. ^ Eusebius Church History 3.31.4
  4. ^ Eusebius Church History 3.39.9
  5. ^ Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia (Oxford, 1895–1897)
  6. ^ Joseph Bingham, Origines ecclesiasticæ; or, The antiquities of the Christian church, and other works. To which are now added, several sermons. (Joseph Bingham, 1834) p 338.
  7. ^ "Tomb of Apostle Philip Found". biblicalarchaeology.org. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  8. ^ The Roman Martyrology. Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. p. 55.
  9. ^ Eusebius HE4:27
  10. ^ Charles Evan Hill, The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church (OUP Oxford, 2004)
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Michel Le Quien, Oriens christianus p838.
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