BARCELLONA, DIOCESI DI

BARCELONA, DIOCESE OF. — Of the Celtiberian or Carthaginian city of Barcelona, 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 list of bishops that was entirely arbitrary. It seems that a Barcelonan bishop cannot be indicated before the mid-4th century, an era in which reliable documents recall a Pretextatus, a 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 Barcelona, nor even a St. Severus, presumed martyr of the 3rd century, who is confused with a namesake 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; Ognus, in the 6th century, an Arian converted along with Recadere and the entire nation, who held a council in 599; Idalius, dean of the bishops in 688; Frodoin, who discovered 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 Barcelona is a suffragan of Tarragona. The bishop of Barcelona has recently obtained the privilege of the pallium.

Determining the ancient boundaries of this diocese presents considerable difficulty, part of which remained detached from 450 to 712 under the vanished see of Egara (Terrassa). At present, the diocese of Barcelona covers an area of 3,548 km² and has 2,000,000 inhabitants, almost all Catholic, with 718 diocesan priests serving 322 parishes. There are also 682 regular priests (1948).