Josep Climent i Avinent (also known as José Climent; 11 March 1706 – 25 November 1781) was a Spanish

bishop of Barcelona The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin rite Catholic metropolitan archbishopric in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i ...

Life

Born at

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló de la Plana), or simply Castellón ( ca-valencia, Castelló, link=no) is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, he studied and afterwards professed theology at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ca-valencia, Universitat de València ; also known as UV) is a public research university located in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest surviving universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Vale ...

, worked for several years as parish priest, and was consecrated Bishop of Barcelona in 1766; he resigned his see in 1775. His episcopal activity was directed to the founding of hospitals, the establishing of free schools, and the diffusion of knowledge among the people by means of low-priced publications. His controversial pastoral instructions contributed largely to his reputation. That of 1769, on the renewal of ecclesiastical studies, caused him to be denounced to the court of

Charles III of Spain it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_d ...

for having eulogized the Church of Utrecht; but a commission composed of archbishops, bishops, and heads of religious orders, appointed to examine his case, returned a decision favourable to him. The sway he held over his people was shown by his success in quelling an uprising in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

against

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; but this only served still further to render him suspect to the suspicious court. He refused, on conscientious grounds, a promotion to the wealthy

See of Málaga See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television ...

, and withdrew to his native place. His life was published in Barcelona in 1785. He died at Castellón de la Plana in 1781.

Works

He translated into Spanish several works, among them Fleury's ''Moeurs des Israelites et des Chrétiens''.

References

*Michaud, Biog. Univers, (Paris, 1843–66)

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Climent i Avinent, Josep 1706 births 1781 deaths People from Castellón de la Plana Bishops of Barcelona 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Spain