Roman Catholic Church
Until 1882, sees lost to the Muslim conquests were distinguished by the Latin phrase in partibus infidelium, "in the territory of the unbelievers", or more often simply in partibus, or because the diocese was dissolved, absorbed into another diocese, or the see was transferred to another location. These non-functional dioceses, now merely historical names, are called "titular sees."
At one time coadjutor bishops and archbishops were given titular sees, but they are now raised to the diocese or archdiocese that they will oversee as coadjutor. Retired bishops and archbishops were also given titular sees, but the common practice now is to name them Bishop or Archbishop Emeritus of the see they retired from.
While the Vatican hopes that titular sees will one day become active dioceses once again, it realizes in most cases the chances of that happening in the near future are low. Some titular sees appear also to remain vacant for ecumenical reasons (e.g. a number of those in the immediate vicinity of Greek Orthodox patriarchates).
Read more about this topic: Titular See
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