The Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón () is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

located in north-eastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

, part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, a ...

. The diocese forms part of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

Zaragoza (province) Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is the city of Zaragoza, whic ...

, and is thus

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

to the Archdiocese of Zaragoza. The city of

Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers C ...

is at the junction of the rivers Cinca and Vero. The diocese is bounded on the north by the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, on the east and south by the Diocese of Lerida (), and on the west by those of

and

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca (province), Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón (river), ...

. The cathedral, the episcopal palace, the seminary, and the college of the Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools, or

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...

, are among the most noted buildings in Barbastro. Besides the seminary for the education of young ecclesiastics, there are various communities in the diocese devoted to a contemplative life and the education of the young, including: the

, the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

, and the Capuchin nuns have foundations in the capital, the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

in the town of Pueyo, and the

Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catho ...

Graus Graus () is a village in the Spanish province of Huesca, located in the Pyrenees at the confluence of rivers Esera and Isabena. It is the administrative capital of the region. It is one of the areas of Aragon in which is still preserved the Ara ...

and

Salas Altas Salas Altas is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2018 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population info ...

. There are schools in all the towns of the diocese.

History

Diocese of Barbastro-Roda (1101–1149)

With the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

invasion of Spain in the 8th century the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

' northward push led to the fall of Lerida, in 716, whereupon the Diocese of Lerida was removed to Roda de Isabena. By the 12th century, the Reconquest of Spain, pushed the borders back south again, such that Lerida was able to reassume control of its diocese, after 300 years, and Barbastro (, , ) was strategically chosen to take over the episcopal see from Roda. In 1101, King Pedro I sent Barbastro's first bishop, Poncio, to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to obtain the Pope's permission for the transfer, which was approved.

Diocese of Lerida (1149 – 16th century)

In 1149, the

in Lerida were vanquished by Count

Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV (; c. 1114 – 6 August 1162, Anglicized Raymond Berengar IV), sometimes called ''the Saint'', was the count of Barcelona and the consort of Aragon who brought about the union of the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Ara ...

and the city regained its episcopal seat and diocesan control of lands.

Diocese of Barbastro (1571–1995)

Barbastro was annexed to the Diocese of Huesca in the sixteenth century, but in 1571 the Diocese of Barbastro was erected out of part of Huesca. The Concordat of 1851 annexed it once more to Huesca, preserving its name and administration, but being administered by a vicar Apostolic. By 1907, the diocese was composed of 154 parishes under the supervision of ten

archpriests The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

, or vicars. The population was about 240,000. The clergy numbered about 220, and there were 231 churches and 177 chapels. In 1951, it regained its full independence. During the 20th-century there were two modifications of the extension of the bishopric, the first in 1955 and the second in 1995 and 1998, that is, in two phases: * Phase 1: On September 2, 1955, 21 Aragonese parishes which, due to historical transfers, had theretofore been under the administration

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

Urgell Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgel ...

, were returned to Aragonese diocesan administration, under the Bishop of Barbastro. * Phase 2: Forty years later, on September 17, 1995, the Archpresbyterates of Western and Eastern Ribagorza, and Cinca Medio, were transferred to Aragonese administration. On June 15, 1998, the remaining parishes in the counties of Bajo Cinca and La Litera were transferred. In that same act, the Church of Santa María del Romeral de Monzón became a Co-cathedral within the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzon. At the end of this phased transfer process, the bishopric went from 30,000 faithful and 153 parishes to 100,000 and 264 parishes. At present the diocese is composed of four Archpresbyterates, or Deaneries: * Lower Cinca - with 19 parishes and 26,694 inhabitants. *

Cinca Medio The Cinca Medio is a comarca in eastern Aragon, Spain. It is named after river Cinca. This comarca is bordered on the northwest by the Somontano de Barbastro comarca, to the east by La Litera, and to the south by the Bajo Cinca and Monegro ...

- with 39 parishes and 37,150 inhabitants. *

Somontano Somontano is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines, created in 1984, and located in the county of the same name, in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It borders the regions of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in the north, H ...

- with 25 parishes and 18,809 inhabitants. *

Sobrarbe Sobrarbe is a comarca of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the north of Huesca province, making up part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as ''fabla''. Sobrarbe is a mountainous ...

- Ribagorza - with 159 parishes and 16,650 inhabitants.

Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón (since 1995)

As of 1995, the Diocese of Barbastro was renamed 'Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón', in accordance with the Vatican decree, ''Ilerdensis et Barbastrensis de finum mutatione''. It expanded to include an additional 84 parishes in Eastern Aragon which had been under the temporary administration of the Diocese of Lerida, and transferred back to Aragon under the administration of Barbastro-Monzón. In 1998, a further 27 parishes were returned to Aragonese administration. With the return of the Parishes to Aragon, property belonging to those places of Worship, including ancient parish registers, altar reliefs, statuary, vestments and other liturgical objects and works of art, which had been stored at the Episcopal See and Seminary of Lerida should have likewise been returned. However, this did not happen and Lerida appealed to Rome to keep the property. The Vatican tribunals declared the Aragonese parishes to be the rightful owners of their respective liturgical property and works of art and sentenced Lerida to return said property to its rightful owners and places of worship. Lerida publicly accepted the Vatican decision but then decided not to comply with it and at the behest of Catalan authorities instead pursued a civil litigation path in order to keep the artwork. Following the Vatican Tribunal's ruling, Lerida embarked on building a diocesan museum exhibiting only some of the Aragonese works which they refused to return. Local partisan Catalan politics desiring promotion, territorial expansionism, and secession from the State incited

anti-Catalan Anti-Catalan sentiment is the collective name given to various trends in Spain, France and Italy that expresses disdain, discrimination, or hatred for Catalonia, to Catalans, Catalan culture, Catalan nationalism, Catalan language or its history ...

sentiment suggesting that the return of the Aragonese parishes to Aragonese administration was part of a strategy of

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

of the

La Franja La Franja (; "The Strip"; ) is the area of Catalan-speaking territories of eastern Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means ''"the strip"'' and can also more properly be called (Aragonese Strip), (Western Strip) or (Eastern St ...

people into the Spanish-speaking mainstream congregation by cutting them off from their cultural roots. The Catalan civil litigation process has been unsuccessful thus far, and as of 2019 is still ongoing, simply delaying the completion of the Vatican ruling, which has over the years seen the gradual and partial return of works of art to various Parishes, including the Royal Monastery of Sigena in 2017.

Bishops of Roda (until 1101)

All the names are given in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: * 887–922 : Adulfo — (since before 887 to 922) * 923–955 : Atón * 955–975 : Odisendo * 988–991 : Aimerico — (since before 988 to 991) * 996---?--- : Jacobo — (since before 996) * 1006–1015 : Aimerico II — (since before 1006 to 1015) * 1017–1019 : Borrell * 1023–1067 : Arnulfo * 1068–1075 : Salomón * 1075–1076 : Arnulfo II * 1076–1094 : Pedro Ramón Dalmacio * 1094–1096 : Lupo * 1097–1100 : Poncio ''In 1101 the Diocese of Roda is transferred to Barbastro.''

Bishops of Barbastro-Roda (1101–1149)

''In 1101 the Diocese of Roda is transferred to Barbastro.'' All the names are given in

: * 1101–1104 : Poncio * 1104–1126 : St. Ramón — (named Ramón II in the

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

) * ---------1126 : Esteban * 1126–1134: Pedro Guillermo **1134 :

Ramiro Ramiro is a Spanish and Portuguese name from the latinisation of the Gothic given name *𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌹𐍂 (*Ranamir). Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ramiro I of Asturias (c. 790–850), king of Asturias * Ramiro ...

, a prince of the royal house of Aragon — (Elected) * 1135–1143 : Gaufrido * 1143–1149 : Guillermo Pérez de Ravitats ''In 1149 the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

is moved to

.''

Bishops of Barbastro (1571–1995)

''In 1571 the Diocese of Barbastro is erected out of part of the Diocese of Huesca.'' * 1573–1585 : Felipe de Urriés y Urriés * 1585–1595 : Miguel Cercito Bereterra * 1596–1603 : Carlos Muñoz Serrano * 1604–1616 : Juan Moriz de Salazar * 1616–1622 :

Jerónimo Bautista Lanuza Jerónimo Bautista Lanuza (3 January 1533 – 15 December 1624) was a Spanish Dominican friar, bishop and writer. He was bishop of Barbastro and Albarracin. Works He wrote many works, usually in the form of homilies A homily (from Greek � ...

* 1622–1625 :

Pedro Apaolaza Ramírez Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

* 1625–1639 : Alfons de Requesens * 1640–1643 : Bernardo Lacabra * 1643–1647 : Diego Chueca * 1647–1656 : Miguel de Escartín Arbeza * 1656–1673 : Diego Francés de Urritigoyti y Lerma * 1673–1680 : Iñigo Royo Lasierra * 1681–1695 : Francisco López de Urraca * 1695–1696 : Jerónimo López * 1696–1699 : José Martínez del Villar * 1700–1708 : Francisco de Paula Garcés y Marcilla * 1708–1714 : Pedro Gregorio Padilla * 1714–1717 : Pedro Teodoro Granel Montfort * 1717–1739 : Carlos Alamán y Ferrer * 1739–1747 : Francisco Antonio Bustamante Jiménez * 1748–1750 : Benito Marín * 1750–1755 : Juan Ladrón de Guevara y Pérez de la Torre * 1755–1766 : Diego Rivera y Fernández de Veguera * 1766–1772 : Felipe Perales Mercado * 1773–1789 : Juan Manuel Cornel Larriba * 1790–1813 : Agustín Iñigo Abad y Lasierra * 1815–1828 : Juan Nepomuceno de Lera y Cano * 1828-1855 : Jaime Fort y Puig * *1855–1896 : See administered by Capitular Vicars, Sede vacante (''Vicarios Capitulares'': 1855-1862 : Basilio Gil Bueno, 1862-1881 : Francisco Rufas Corz, 1881-1892 : Juan Antonio Puicercús Abizanda, 1893-1896 : José Laplana Matheo). **1896–1898 : Casimiro Piñera y Naredo — (Obispo titular de Anchialón y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1898–1905 : Juan Antonio Ruano y Martín — (Apostolic Administrator), born at Gijude del Barro, in the

Diocese of Salamanca The Diocese of Salamanca () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Salamanca in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valladolid, Valladolid in Spain.

, 3 Nov., 1848, appointed titular bishop of Claudiopolis, and Administrator of Barbastro, 3 Nov., 1898 and transferred to

, 14 Dec., 1905. **1907–1917 : Isidoro Badia y Sarradell — (Obispo titular de Ascalón y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1918–1926 : Emilio Jiménez Pérez — (Obispo titular de Antedón y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1927–1935 : Nicanor Mutiloa e Irurita — (Obispo titular de Querapolis y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1935-1936 : Florentino Asensio Barroso — (Obispo titular de Eurea de Epiro y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1938-1946 : Lino Rodrigo Ruesca - (Obispo de Huesca y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) **1946–1950 : Arturo Tabera Araoz — (Obispo titular de Lirbe y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) * 02/02/1950 - 13/05/1950 : Arturo Tabera Araoz - (Obispo electo de Barbastro) **1950-1952 : Arturo Tabera Araoz - ( Obispo de Albacete y Apostolic Administrator de Barbastro) * 1951–1953 : Pedro Cantero Cuadrado * 1954–1959 : Segundo García de Sierra y Méndez * 1960–1970 : Jaime Flores Martín * 1970–1974 : Damián Iguacen Borau * 1974–1995 : Ambrosio Echebarría Arroita

Bishops of Barbastro-Monzón (since 1995)

* 1995–1999 : Ambrosio Echebarría Arroita * 1999–2004 : Juan José Omella Omella * 2004–2014 : Alfonso Milián Sorribas * 2014−present : Ángel Javier Pérez Pueyo

References

Sources

* IBERCRONOX
Obispado de Barbastro-Monzón
geocities.com. Accessed 5 March 2024. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese of Barbastro-Monzon Aragon Barbastro-Monzon 1571 establishments in Spain