The Roman Catholic Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón is located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The diocese forms part of the ecclesiastical province of Zaragoza (province), and is thus suffragan to the Archdiocese of Zaragoza.
The city of Barbastro is at the junction of the rivers Cinca and Vero. The diocese is bounded on the north by the Pyrenees, on the east and south by the Diocese of Lleida, and on the west by those of Huesca and Jaca.
The cathedral, the episcopal palace, the seminary, and the college of the Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools, or Piarists, 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 Piarists, the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Poor Clares, and the Capuchin nuns have foundations in the capital, the Benedictines in the town of Pueyo, and the Discalced Carmelites in Graus and Salas-Altas. There are schools in all the towns of the diocese.
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With the Ummayad invasion of Spain in the 8th century the Moor's northward push led to the fall of Lleida, in 716, whereupon the diocese of Lleida was removed to Roda de Isabena. By the 12th century, the Reconquest of Spain, pushed the borders back south again, such that Lleida was able to reassume control of its diocese, after 300 years, and Barbastro (Latin: Barbatius, French: Barbazan, Italian: Barbaccia, Barbazza, Barbazzi) was strategically chosen to take over the episcopal see from Roda. In 1101, King Pedro I sent Barbastro's first bishop, Poncio, to Rome to obtain the pope's permission for the transfer, which was approved.
In 1149, the Moors in Lleida were vanquished by Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and the city regained its episcopal seat and diocesan control of lands.
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, or vicars. The population was about 240,000. The clergy numbered about 220, and there were 231 churches and 177 chapels.
In 1950 or 1951 it regained its full independence.
Since 1995 this diocese has been renamed Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, becoming larger by the annexion of neighboring parishes. In that year, following the Ilerdensis et Barbastrensis de finum mutatione decree, 84 culturally Catalan parishes that had traditionally belonged to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida for over eight centuries, were segregated and transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón. These were followed by a further 27 parishes in June 1998. The annexed parishes are in the Llitera and Baix Cinca Catalan-speaking Aragonese areas.[1]
After the parish segregation a controversy began regarding the return of ancient works of art belonging to the segregated parishes and which were stored at the Lleida Diocesan Museum. Since there was no previous consultation, the decree and the ensuing controversies were perceived as anti-Catalan measures by many in Lleida and in the concerned parishes, and part of a strategy towards the cultural assimilation of the La Franja people into the Spanish-speaking mainstream congregation by cutting them off from their cultural roots.[2]
All the names are given in Spanish:
In 1101 the Diocese of Roda is transferred to Barbastro.
In 1101 the Diocese of Roda is transferred to Barbastro. All the names are given in Spanish:
In 1149 the episcopal see is moved to Lleida.
In 1571 the Diocese of Barbastro is erected out of part of the Diocese of Huesca.
This article draws only from other Wikipedia articles and these three sources:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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