GERONA, DIOCESE of. — The diocese of G. (Spain) borders the dioceses of Urgell, Vich, and Barcelona to the west and south. It is suffragan to Tarragona and has a total of 390,000 inhabitants, of whom 389,000
are Catholics, over an area of 4,965 sq km. It is divided into 15 archpriestships, with 385 parishes served by 529 diocesan priests and 64 religious priests, a major seminary at G., and a minor seminary of S. Maria del Collell at Bañolas; 12 male and 114 female religious communities. The patron saint of the diocese is St. Narcissus, bishop of G. (29 October).
It must already have existed in the 3rd century, since Prudentius mentions its deacon Felix, martyred during the persecution of Diocletian. Innocent I speaks of a bishop of G. in a letter addressed to the Council of Toledo in the year 400. During the period of Visigothic rule, the bishop John Biclarensis, author of a fairly well-known Chronicon, should be remembered. In the 9th century the diocese of G. incorporated that of Ampurias, which is still included within its territory. In the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, the bishop and Chapter of G. possessed considerable feudal power and extensive, wealthy properties. There were continual struggles during that period between the bishop and the counts of Besalù and Ampurias. An eminent episcopal figure in the 15th century was Giovanni de Margarit, cardinal of Pope Sixtus IV.
The Cathedral and the collegiate church of S. Felix established schools in the 8th and 14th centuries, respectively. In 1560 the «Estudis generalis» were established. G. today possesses one of the finest diocesan museums in Spain. In the Provincial Museum there is a fine Christian sarcophagus (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, I, pl. 69, 2, p. 88; II, pp. 338, 348). The diocese also preserves precious literary treasures, including the Homilies of St. Bede the Venerable (from the 10th or 11th century), a Beato from the 10th century, and the so-called Bible of Charles V from the 14th century. Two celebrated figures belong to the 14th–15th centuries: the polymath Francisco Eiximenis and the inquisitor Nicolás Eymerich.
With the armies of the Franks that fought against the Arabs, many monks entered the diocese and populated the region with monasteries. Between the 9th and 10th centuries, the following monasteries, among others, arose: S. Pere de Roda, S. Maria de Roses, S. Miguel de Cruilles, S. Felice de Guixols, S. Maria d'Amer, S. Pere de Besalù, S. Pere de Camprodon. In the 11th century, S. Miguel de Fluvià, S. Maria de Cervià, and S. Pere de Galligans. In the 12th century, Vilabertran.
The diocese possesses numerous monuments in the Gothic style, among which the Cathedral is especially noteworthy, with a nave 22.80 m wide. But its most significant archaeological value lies in the Romanesque churches of the diocese. In addition to those mentioned, the names of S. Maria de Lladò, S. Pere Cercada, S. Maria, S. Pere, and S. Vincenzo de Besalù (all Romanesque churches of the diocese) will suffice. In the capital, moreover, stand the churches of S. Nicolau, S. Pere de Galligans, and S. Daniel, likewise Romanesque. In the church of S. Felice there are five Christian sarcophagi (Wilpert, Sarcofagi, I, pl. 110, p. 118; II, pp. 334, 36; III, p. 50; I, pl. 111, 1; II, p. 11, 308, 310, 334-35; I, pl. 112, 3, p. 128; II, p. 11; I, pl. 158, 3, p. 2*, 17; II, pl. 196, 1, pp. 251-61; III, p. 45). - Vedi pl. XIII.
id., G. arqueológica, there 1945; id., Tradiciones, santuarias y tipismo de las comarcas gerundenses, there 1950. Giuseppe Cases