BEJA, DIOCESI DI

BEJA, DIOCESE OF. — A city in Portugal, in the province of Alemtejo, situated on a plateau 300 m. above sea level, with about 15,000 inhabitants. Beja was erected as a diocese, suffragan of Évora, on 10 June 1770: it is the ancient city of Pax Iulia, Pax Augusta, once identified with Badajoz (q.v.). The introduction of Christianity there is unknown. Under the Visigothic king Theudis (531-548) it was a bishopric, governed by Arpingius, known for his commentary on the Apocalypse. The bishops of Beja attended the Toletan Councils. The see appeared under the Arabs in the mid-8th century; yet in the following century Christianity still existed there, since in 851 Sesinando, a native of Beja, suffered martyrdom at Córdoba. It was reconquered in the second half of the 12th century, and Christian life revived, but for a long time there was no thought of restoring the see, of which even the memory had vanished. The first bishop appointed was Emmanuel de Cenaculo (1770-1802), who established educational institutions, founded a library and an ecclesiastical academy with the aim of preserving the faith. The fine college of St Sesinando is now the episcopal palace and seminary, the latter founded in 1884. The diocese has 258,595 Catholics, 108 parishes, 42 secular priests and 3 regulars (1949).