was titular bishop of the see, while Bishop Marcello Semeraro is its actual diocesan bishop. The Cardinal Dean is by tradition Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, in addition to the suburbicarian see he previously held.

Occasionally, the transfer of a diocesan bishop to a titular see has been used by the Holy See to strip a bishop of responsibilities when his behavior was disapproved of. For instance, in 1995, Jacques Gaillot,