The Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin metropolitan archbishopric of the Catholic Church in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, Barcelona. The archbishopric has nine more Minor basilicas. The current Archbishop of Barcelona is Juan José Omella Omella, appointed by Pope Francis on 6 November 2015.

Province

The ecclesiastical province of Barcelona includes the Metropolitan's own archbishopric and the following suffragan sees :

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 2,116,479 Catholics (79.7% of 2,657,000 total) on 340 km² in 214 parishes and 153 missions with 826 priests (396 diocesan, 430 religious), 46 deacons, 3,092 lay religious (639 brothers, 2,453 sisters) and 19 seminarians.

History

While local tradition and catalogues date back the first bishop, San Eteri, considered a disciple of Saint James the Great, to the very first Apostles, historical evidence seems to be undisputed from the third century onwards, when bishop Pretextat attended the Council of Sardica in 343. During the Visigothic Kingdom, Barcelona became one of the fourteen dioceses of the ecclesiastic province of Tarragona. Circa 450 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Egara, which it regained circa 700 at the suppression of that Diocese of Egara After the Christian fall in 712, a long sede vacante was ended not before 850, when bishop Joan took office, and the diocese became subjugated to the Carolingian See of Narbonne. During the Reconquista, bishop Oleguer was called to the archepiscopal see of Tarragona, which he took in 1017, though being granted to keep his Barcelonan see as well, reigning 1114–1137. Barcelona became suffragan to Tarragona once again, and stayed so for the following centuries. Its bishops got used to live in the pontifical or royal courts instead of the city, until bishop Jaume Caçador inducted reforms according to the Council of Trent amidst the 16th century. Disregarding another year-lasting de facto sede vacante from 1808 to 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars, Barcelona and its diocese kept on growing richer and more powerful.

List of bishops

Suffragan Bishopric

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that “The See of Barcelona, unlike most very ancient sees, whose origins are obscure, has preserved catalogues of its bishops from Apostolic times, and although all the names given cannot be admitted as authentic, the greater number are handed down in all the catalogues.” The list includes: In the twelfth century the diocese was restored by Ramon Berenguer, Count of Barcelona.

Archbishopric

Coadjutor and Auxiliary bishops

Sources and external links