Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida

Diocese of Lleida Dioecesis Ilerdensis Diócesis de Lleida Spanish Diòcesi de Lleida Catalan
Cathedral of the Assumption in Lleida
Location
Country	Spain
Ecclesiastical province	Tarragona
Metropolitan	Tarragona
Statistics
Area	2,887 km² (1,115 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 196,996 192,592 (97.8%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	5th Century (As Diocese of Lérida) 31 October 1992 (As 31 October 1992)
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Assumption in Lleida
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Juan Piris Frígola
Metropolitan Archbishop	Jaume Pujol Balcells
Emeritus Bishops	Ramon Malla Call Bishop Emeritus (1968-1999) Francesc-Xavier Ciuraneta Aymí Bishop Emeritus (1999-2007)
Map

Website
Website of the Diocese

A model of the old cathedral of Lleida

The Diocese of Lleida, known as the Diocese of Lerida in English, (Latin, Ilerdensis) is located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Lleida, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The diocese forms part of the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona, and is thus suffragan to the Archdiocese of Tarragona.^[1]^[2]

The diocese of Lleida was created in the 3rd century. After the Moorish conquest of Lleida in 716 the episcopal see was moved to Roda (until 1101) and then to Barbastro (1101-1149). The city of Lleida was conquered from the Moors by the Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149, and the see was again transferred to its original seat. The Bishop's Palace is located in Rambla d'Aragó.

Lleida is one of the most populous cities in Catalonia, built on the right bank of the River Segre, about 100 miles from Barcelona. The town is oriental in appearance, and its streets are narrow and crooked. The population in 1900 was 23,683. The old Byzantine-Gothic Cathedral, of which the ruins are to be seen on the citadel, dates from 1203. During the Middle Ages the University of Lleida was famous; in 1717 it was suppressed, and united with Cervera.

At present, Lleida is sede vacante, since its last bishop, Mgr. Francesc-Xavier Ciuraneta Aymí resigned on March 8, 2007. The diocese is under the temporary administration of Mgr. Xavier Salinas Viñals, Bishop of Tortosa.

History

Roman period

Lleida was the Roman Ilerda, or Herda. During the Punic Wars it sided with the Carthaginians; near it Hanno the Elder was defeated by Scipio in 216 B.C., and Julius Cæsar defeated Pompey's forces in 49 B.C.

La Canal says that the diocese was erected in 600, but others maintain it goes back to the third century, and there is mention of a St. Lycerius, or Glycerius, as Bishop of Lleida in A.D. 269.

Visigoth and Muslim period (until 1149)

In 514 or 524 a council attended by eight bishops passed decrees forbidding the taking up of arms or the shedding of blood by clerics. A provincial council in 546 regulated ecclesiastical discipline.

The signatures of other bishops of Lleida are attached to various councils up to the year 716, when the Moors took possession of the town, and the see was removed to Roda. An unbroken list of bishops of Lleida goes back to the year 887.

In 1101 King Pedro I of Aragon took the city of Barbastro from the Moors and transferred the see from Roda to Barbastro. The first bishop, Poncio, went to Rome to obtain the pope's permission for this transfer.

Diocese of Lleida (from 1149)

The city of Lleida was conquered from the Moors by the Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149, and the episcopal see was again transferred to its original seat.

A council in 1173 was presided over by Cardinal Giacinto Bobone, who afterwards became Pope Celestine III. A council in 1246 absolved king James I of Aragon from the sacrilege of cutting out the tongue of the Bishop of Girona.

The seminary was founded in 1722.

During the Peninsular War the French held it (1810), and in 1823 Spain once more obtained possession of it. Owing to its natural position its strategic value has always been very great, and it was strongly fortified in 1910.

The cathedral chapter prior to the Concordat of 1851 consisted of 6 dignities, 24 canons, 22 benefices, but after the concordat the number was reduced to 16 canons and 12 beneficed clerics.

In 1910 the Catholic population of the diocese was 185,000 souls scattered over 395 parishes and ministered to by 598 priests. Besides 395 churches for public worship, there were in the diocese five religious communities of men, six of women, and several hospitals in charge of nuns. The seminary accommodated 500 students.

1995-1998 Segregation of the Western Parishes

In 1995, following the Ilerdensis et Barbastrensis de finum mutatione decree, 84 culturally Catalan La Franja 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 amputated parishes were in the Llitera and Baix Cinca Catalan-speaking Aragonese areas.^[3]

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. The decree and the ensuing controversies were perceived as anti-Catalan measures by many in Lleida and in the concerned parishes, as they were not previously consulted, and part of a strategy to assimilate the La Franja people into the Spanish-speaking mainstream congregation by cutting them off from their cultural roots.^[4]

Bishops of Lleida (6th to 9th centiries)

All the names (except the first one) are given in Catalan:

ca. 269 : St. Lleïr — (Mentioned in 269)
ca. 516 : Oronci — (Mentioned between 516 and 517)
ca. 519 : Pere
ca. 540 : Andreu — (Mentioned in 540)
ca. 546 : Februari — (Mentioned in 546)
ca. 589 : Polibi — (Mentioned in 589)
ca. 592 : Julià — (Mentioned in 592)
ca. 599 : Ameli — (Mentioned in 599)
ca. 614 : Gomarel — (Mentioned in 614)
ca. 635 : Fructuós — (Mentioned between 633 and 638)
ca. 653 : Gandelè — (Mentioned in 653)
ca. 690 : Eusend — (Mentioned between 683 and 693)
ca. 715 : Esteve — (before 714 - after 719)
ca. 780 : San Medard — (after 778)
ca. 842 : Jacob

After the Moorish conquest the Diocese of Lleida is transferred to Roda.

Bishops of Roda (until 1101)

After the Moorish conquest the Diocese of Lleida is transferred to Roda. All the names are given in Catalan:

887-922 : Adulf — (since before 887 to 922)
923-955 : Ató
955-975 : Odisend
988-991 : Aimeric — (since before 988 to 991)
996---?--- : Jacob — (since before 996)
1006-1015 : Aimeric II — (since before 1006 to 1015)
1017-1019 : Borrell
1023-1067 : Arnulf
1068-1075 : Salomó
1075-1076 : Arnulf II
1076-1094 : Pere Ramon Dalmaci
1094-1096 : Llop
1097-1100 : Ponç

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 Catalan:

1101-1104 : Ponç
1104-1126 : St. Ramon — (named Ramon II in the Catholic Encyclopedia)
---------1126 : Esteve
1126-1134: Pere Guillem
1134 : Ramir, a prince of the royal house of Aragon — (Elected)
1135-1143 : Gaufrid
1143-1149 : Guillermo Pérez de Ravitats

In 1149 the episcopal see returned to Lleida.

Bishops of Lleida (since 1149)