BARCELLONA, DIOCESI OF. — Of the Celtic-Iberian or Carthaginian city of B., the Barcino of the Roman era, the documents remain silent even in the 3rd century. Bemoaning this lack, some national writers of the early modern period attempted to supply it with hypotheses and legendary accounts, mainly concerning the origins of the dioceses, providing a wholly arbitrary list of bishops. It seems that a Barcelonan bishop cannot be indicated before the mid-4th century, an era in which reliable documents recall a Pretextatus, companion of the famous Ossius of Córdoba at the Council of Serdica. Indeed, it is not entirely certain that a previous companion of Ossius named Olympius was bishop of B., nor even a St. Severus, presumed martyr of the 3rd century, confused with an homonymous prelate of Ravenna. Glory of the same see in the 4th century are the learned St. Pacian and his successor Lampius, who ordained St. Paulinus of Nola as priest; Ugnus, in the 6th century, an Arian converted with King Reccared and the entire nation, who celebrated a council in 599; Idalius, dean of the bishops in 688; Frodoinus, who found the body of St. Eulalia in 877; Azeus, who died in the battle of Córdoba (1010) against the Moors, and in the same century Gisalbert, who in 1058 solemnly dedicated the cathedral; St. Olegarius and Bernard of Berga in the 12th century, the latter of whom participated in the Third Lateran Council. The diocese of B. is a suffragan of Tarragona. The bishop of B. has recently obtained the privilege of the pallium.
Determining the ancient boundaries of this diocese presents great difficulty, part of which remained detached from 450 to 712 under the vanished see of Egara (Terrassa). At present the diocese of B. covers an area of 3,548 sq. km. and has 2,000,000 inhabitants, almost all Catholic, with 718 diocesan priests, who serve 322 parishes. There are also 682 regular priests (1948).
SAINTS, CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES. — In addition to the saintly bishops mentioned above, Barcelona holds in great veneration: St Eulalia, whose feast is celebrated on 12 February, while the namesake from Mérida is commemorated on 10 December. According to Delehaye, these are two feasts for a single martyr (Martyrologium Hieronymianum, p. 90, no. 35). St Cugat, mentioned by Prudentius: Barcino claro Cucufate freta surget (Peristephanon, IV, 33), is recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 16 February and in the Mozarabic liturgy on 25 July. Also venerated are St Raymond of Peñafort (1275), who was a canon of Barcelona, and St Joseph Oriol (1702; v.).
The ancient cathedral of Barcelona, dedicated to the Holy Cross, was turned into a mosque by the Arabs; after the Frankish reconquest in 801, Bishop Frodoí began its reconstruction in 877, transferring the relics of St Eulalia there the following year. It was ruined in the invasion of 985 and rebuilt between 1048 and 1058 by Bishop Guisalbert and Count Ramón Berenguer I. The altar of St Andrew dates from 1173, that of St Mark from 1203, and that of the Three Virgins from 1271. On 1 May 1299 James II laid the first stone of the new cathedral, which was completed only in 1430; it has three naves in Gothic-Catalan style, with two octagonal towers on the exterior. Beneath the high altar in the crypt is the rich sarcophagus containing the remains of St Eulalia, who is the second titular saint of the cathedral. It also contains the tomb of St Olegarius (1115). The adjoining cloister dates from the 15th century. In 1948 the remains of the primitive cathedral were discovered; it occupied the same area as the present one, except for the apse.
Very ancient is the church of St Paul of the Field, founded together with the monastery towards the end of the 11th century and mentioned in a privilege granted on 1 December 1098 to Abbot Berengarius of St Cugat; it is in the form of a Greek cross, with three apses and an octagonal dome in the centre; the façade still retains original decorations and the cloister is adorned with artistic capitals.
The seven oldest parishes of Barcelona are: 1) St Mary of the Sea or of the Sands, erected on the site where the relics of St Eulalia were discovered (878); it presents itself as a Gothic church with three naves dating between 1329 and 1377; 2) St Saturninus, already in existence in 945, when the nearby monastery of St Peter of the Nuns (Sant Pere de les Puelles) of Benedictine nuns was founded. The church and monastery were destroyed in 985 and restored in 991. The church was reconsecrated in 1147 and damaged in 1909; 3) St Michael, recorded in documents of the 11th century and transferred in 1835 to the church of Mercy; 4) St James, mentioned in the 12th century; 5) St Cugat of the Furnace, founded by Guisalbert before he became bishop. The church rebuilt in 1827 burned down in 1909; 6) St Mary of the Pine, a 15th-century construction, served by G. Oriol who was later canonised; 7) SS Justus and Pastor, near the cathedral: the present church dates from 1345.
The national shrine of Catalonia is the church of Mercy, where stands the effigy of the Madonna who appeared to St Peter Nolasco, St Raymond and King James for the founding of the Mercedarian Order. Our Lady of Mercy is the patroness of the city and diocese of Barcelona; her feast is on 24 September.
Other notable churches include: St Anne, begun in 1151 and completed in 1507, a single-naved Latin-cross structure; the church and monastery of St Catherine with a 15th-century cloister; the chapel of St George (15th century) in the Palace of the Provincial Deputies. Among the Baroque churches are those of St Severus and Bethlehem. On Mount Tibidabo, overlooking the city, a votive church inspired by St John Bosco is rising; another expiatory church, still under construction and dedicated to the Holy Family, was begun by Villar and continued by Antoni Gaudí. Ancient monasteries include those of St Eulalia of the Field, St Mary of Pedralbes, St Vincent of Garraf or of Petra bona (now Silges), founded by Alfonso II in 1163; St Cugat of the Vallès, St Lawrence of the Mount, St Michael of Fay, etc.
At Terrassa there remains a group of three churches whose present form dates partly from the 9th century and partly from the 12th, though with some more ancient elements: the church of St Mary, the ancient cathedral, with a semicircular apse inside and a rectangular enclosure outside (remains of a 6th-century mosaic pavement were found there); nearby is the church of St Michael, which served as a baptistery, a quadrilateral structure with a polygonal apse; the third is the church of St Peter. During restorations carried out in the episcopal palace of Barcelona in 1933, decorative sculptures belonging, like the adjoining cloister, to the 12th century were found in the courtyard. Besides the episcopal and city archives, Barcelona possesses the extremely important Crown of Aragon archive, of prime importance for medieval history.
The Art Museum of Catalonia houses a series of frescoes from ancient churches such as St Mary of Tahull (early 12th century), St Clement of Tahull (1123), Pedret (first half of the 12th century), Sorpe (12th century), St Michael of the See, and St Martin of Fenollar.
The municipal archaeological museum is housed in the ancient church of St Agatha. Here are two Christian sarcophagi (Wilpert, Sarcophagi, I, pls. 89, 7 and 90, 3, 5).
The second, held under the presidency of the metropolitan Asiatic of Tarragona, was attended by twelve bishops (among whom were two from Tortosa, namely the Catholic Julian and Froisolo, recently converted along with others from Arianism, and the famous John Bielarense of Gerona), who signed four canons on simony, clerical interstices, and the vow of chastity for virgins.
Other less important councils were held in Barcelona after its liberation from the Saracen yoke, namely in 906 (attended by the sovereign count Guifredo and the archbishop of Narbonne, against whom the bishop of Vich protested), in 1009, in 1054 and 1068, at which the suppression of the Visigothic liturgy was decreed; this suppression only came into force in 1071.