Roman Catholic Diocese of Huesca

Diocese of Huesca Dioecesis Oscensis Diócesis de Huesca
Huesca Cathedral
Location
Country	Spain
Ecclesiastical province	Zaragoza
Metropolitan	Zaragoza
Statistics
Area	4,728 km2 (1,825 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2006) 79,600 78,600 (98.7%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	533
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of Montserrat in Huesca
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Julián Ruiz Martorell
Metropolitan Archbishop	Sede vacante
Website
diocesisdehuesca.org

The Diocese of Huesca (Latin, Oscensis) is located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Zaragoza.

Huesca embraces parts of the province of Huesca in north-eastern Spain, seven parishes in the Broto valley and three within the limits of the Archdiocese of Saragossa, one parish being situated in the city of Saragossa itself.

Diocese created in or before the 6th century; after the Moorish conquest of 713 its bishops moved to Aragon (the itinerant "Bishops of Aragon"). The episcopal seat was established in Jaca during 1063-1096, then finally moved back to Huesca after king Pedro I of Aragon took the city from the Moors in November 1096.

History[]

Early history (c. 500 – 713)[]

The date of origin of the diocese cannot be definitely ascertained; the earliest evidence of its existence is the signature of , to the decrees of the Third Council of Toledo, held in 589. Isidore of Seville, writing in the 7th century,^[1] mentions the presence of , at an earlier council, but this is not considered authoritative. The year of the diocese being erected is given as 533.^[2]

After 589, we next hear of the diocese through a synod held there in 598 which ordered annual diocesan conferences and enacted various disciplinary measures.

Itinerant bishops of Aragon (713–1063)[]

The Moorish invasion of 710 rapidly worked toward Huesca; when the city was taken in 713 the bishop fled, and the diocese was directed from Aragon by itinerant bishops, sometimes called bishops of Aragon, sometimes bishops of Huesca or Jaca, who lived either at Jaca or in the neighbouring monasteries of San Juan de la Peña, San Pedro de Siresa, and San Adrián de Sasabe.

Among the bishops of Aragon were:

• . c. 920 : Iñigo
• . c. 922 : Ferriolus
• 933–947 : Fortuño
• 971–978 : Aureolus
• . c. 981 : Atón
• 1011–1036 : Mancius
• 1036–1057 : García
• 1058–1075 : Sancho
• 1076–1086 : García Ramírez
• 1087–1097 : Peter

Jaca as seat of the bishops of Huesca (1063–1096)[]

A council held at Jaca in 1063 determined anew the boundaries of the Diocese of Huesca, which thereafter included the present dioceses of Huesca, Jaca, and Barbastro, as well as a part of the Diocese of Lérida. Jaca was then made the permanent seat of the diocese.

At the same time Sancho II was appointed Bishop of Huesca, and hastened to request the Pope Alexander II to confirm the decisions of the council. In the same year of 1063, however, King Sancho Ramirez of Aragon (1063-1094) had won back from the Moors the city of Barbastro, and had granted it to the Bishop of Roda. García Ramírez, the new Bishop of Huesca (1076–1086) and the king's brother, regarded this as an infringement of the rights of jurisdiction granted the Bishop of Jaca by the council of Jaca. He therefore renewed his petition to the new pope (Gregory VII) to have the decisions of the council confirmed, which request the pope granted .^[3] As, however, Bishop Raimundo of Roda also obtained the confirmation of all his privileges from Gregory, a violent dispute arose between the Bishops of Huesca and Roda as to jurisdiction over the churches of Barbastro, Bielsa, Gistao, and Alquezar, which in 1080 was decided by the king in favour of the Bishop of Roda.

Bishops' seat returns to Huesca (1096–present)[]

In November 1096, King Pedro I of Aragon took back Huesca from the Moors and restored the original see. Pope Urban II decreed (May 11, 1098) that, instead of Jaca, Huesca should again be the seat of the bishop, as it had been until the year 713 .^[4]

But Jaca itself had a separate existence under a vicar-general, independent of the Bishop of Huesca. It also retained its own cathedral chapter, which originally followed the Rule of St. Augustine, but in 1270 both this chapter and that of Huesca were secularized.

The history of the Diocese of Huesca is from this time on closely associated with that of the present Diocese of Barbastro.

The episcopal city of Huesca was long a centre for education and art. Ancient Osca was the seat of the famous school of Sertorius. After the failure of his plans at Perpignan, king Pedro IV of Aragon in 1354 established a university at Huesca, which was maintained by a tax laid on the city's food, and which pursued a steady if not a brilliant existence until it was eclipsed by the great college at Saragossa.

In 1571, the Diocese of Barbastro was erected out of part of Huesca. From 1848 to 1851 the See of Huesca was vacant. The Concordat of 1851 formally annexed Barbastro once more to Huesca, but preserving its name and administration, being administered by a vicar Apostolic.

Population figures for the Diocese[]

In 1910 the Diocese of Huesca comprised 181 parishes and 15 subsidiary parishes, with 240 priests and 50 churches and chapels. It had a Catholic population of 87,659.

In 1950 there were 110,000 Catholics in the diocese. There were 196 parishes in the diocese. By 1980 there were 76,500 Catholics in the diocese, and it had 197 parishes. The year 1990 saw 82,500 Catholics and 210 parishes in the diocese. By 2004 there were 78,000 Catholics and 200 parishes.^[5]

Bishops of Huesca[]

• c. 522–546 : Elpidius
• c. 546–556 : Pompeianus
• 557–576 : Vincent
• 576–600 : Gabinius
• --------------- : Ordulfus - (Mentioned between 633 and 638)
• --------------- : Eusebius - (Mentioned in 653)
• --------------- : Gadisclo - (Mentioned in 683)
• --------------- : Audebertus - (Mentioned in 693)

713–1096 : Huesca under Moorish rule.

• --------------- : Nitidius - (Late 8th century)
• --------------- : Frontinianus - (Early 9th century)

Among the bishops of Aragon were:

• . c. 920 : Iñigo
• . c. 922 : Ferriolus
• 933–947 : Fortuño
• 971–978 : Aureolus
• . c. 981 : Atón
• 1011–1036 : Mancius
• 1036–1057 : García
• 1058–1075 : Sancho
• 1076–1086 : García Ramírez
• 1087–1097 : Peter

1096 : Huesca conquered by king Peter I of Aragon.

1. 1097–1099 : Pedro
2. 1099–1130 : Esteban
3. 1130–1134 : Arnaldo Dodón
4. 1134–1160 : Dodón
5. --------- 1162 : Martín
6. 1166–1185 : Esteban de San Martín
7. 1187–1201 : Ricardo
8. 1201–1236 :
9. 1238–1252 :
10. 1253–1269 :
11. 1269–1273 :
12. 1273–1290 :
13. 1290–1300 : Ademar
14. 1300–1313 :
15. 1313–1324 :
16. 1324–1328 : Gastón de Moncada
17. 1328–1336 :
18. 1337–1345 : Bernardo Oliver
19. 1345–1348 :
20. 1348–1357 :
21. 1357–1361 :
22. 1362–1364 :
23. 1364–1368 :
24. 1369–1372 : Juan Martínez
25. 1372–1383 :
26. 1383–1384 :
27. 1384–1393 :
28. 1393–1403 :
29. 1403–1410 :
30. 1410–1415 : Domingo Ram y Lanaja
    • 1415–1421 : See vacant
31. 1421–1443 :
32. 1443–1457 :
33. 1458–1465 :
34. 1470–1484 :
35. 1484–1526 :
36. --------- 1527 :
37. 1528–1529 :
38. 1530–1532 : Lorenzo Campeggio
39. 1532–1534 :
40. 1534–1544 :
41. 1545–1572 : Pedro Agustín
42. 1572–1574 :
43. 1577–1584 :
44. 1584–1593 :
45. 1594–1607 :
46. 1608–1615 :
47. 1616–1628 :
48. 1628–1641 :
49. 1641–1654 :
50. 1644–1670 :
51. 1671–1674 :
52. 1677–1685 :
53. 1686–1707 :
54. 1708–1714 :
55. 1714–1734 :
56. 1735–1736 :
57. 1738–1742 :
58. 1743–1775 :
59. 1776–1789 :
60. 1790–1792 :
61. 1793–1797 :
62. 1797–1809 :
63. 1815–1832 :
64. 1833–1845 :
    • 1848–1851 : See vacant
65. 1851–1861 :
66. 1861–1870 :
67. 1875–1886 :
68. 1888–1895 :
69. 1895–1918 : , (or Mariano Supervía y Lostalé)
70. 1918–1922 :
71. 1922–1934 :
72. 1935–1973 :
    • 1965–1969 : - (Apostolic Administrator)
    • -------- 1969 : Damián Iguacén Borau - (Apostolic Administrator)
    • 1969–1977 : - (Apostolic Administrator)
73. 1977–2001 :
    • 2001–2003 : Juan José Omella Omella - (Apostolic Administrator)
74. 2003–2009 : Jesús Sanz Montes

See also[]

• Huesca Cathedral
• List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Spain

References[]

• (in English) Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910: Diocese of Huesca and Diocese of Jaca
• (in Spanish) IBERCRONOX: Obispado de Huesca (Osca) and Obispado de Aragón

External links[]

• (in Spanish) Official Diocese of Huesca website

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Coordinates: 42°08′27″N 0°24′31″W / 42.1408°N 0.4086°W / 42.1408; -0.4086