TINOS. - Catholic bishopric of the island of the same name. Bishops of T. took part in the ecumenical councils V (553), VI (680), VII (787). At the end of the 9th century the Greek bishopric of T. belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Rhodes.
In the times of Venetian rule (1207-1715) the Greek bishopric was suppressed; there existed, however, the Catholic bishopric of the Latin rite, to which the Greek protopapa was subject. The Greek bishopric was restored around 1719 and ceased in 1833, when it was incorporated into the metropolis of the Cyclades, whose see is at Ermoupoli (Syros). The Catholic bishopric of T. was united in 1930 with the Catholic archbishopric of Naxos, whose prelate resides part of the year at Naxos and part at T. Without doubt the history of Catholicism at T. is consoling, although, given the smallness of the bishopric, it lacks grand features; and although, through the emigration of not a few Catholics to Constantinople, to Smyrna and elsewhere, the number of the faithful has diminished. It consists of about 4000 souls, whose care is entrusted to some fifteen secular priests aided by religious (Jesuits and Franciscans).
Bibliography
Giorgio Hofmann