GUARDA, DIOCESI DI - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. VI, p. 719

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

GUARDA, DIOCESE OF. – In Portugal, a suffragan of Lisbon. The first historical reference is found in the acts of the Council of Lugo (569), and the first historically known bishop is ODORIO, present at the Council of Braga (572).

The history of the diocese during the Arab invasion and until the transfer of the see from Idanha (Egitania) to G., authorized by Innocent III, is very obscure. It seems that the first bishops after the restoration, even before the transfer, lived in the town of Penamacor.

The reason for the change of see was that Idanha was uninhabited at that time, and Sancho I, the founder of G., wished to ensure that the new city would have an importance commensurate with its strategic value.

The cathedral, which is the most valuable artistic monument of the city, was built from 1390 to 1540.

At present it has a surface area of 664 sq. km.; 424,512 inhabitants, almost all Catholic, distributed in 356 parishes, 312 diocesan priests and 6 regular clergy; two seminaries, 2 male religious communities and 24 female ones (1949).

Bibl.: Eubel, III, p. 190; Silva Leal, Memorias para a historia ecclesiastica do Bispado da G. e Catalogo dos Bispos de Idanha e G., in Coll. de Acad. Real de Hist., Madrid 1722; J. Gama e Castro, Diocese e distrito da D., Guarda 1905; F. De Almeida, Historia da Igreja em Portugal, Lisbon 1915; C. Oliveira, Apontamentos para a monografia da G., 1940; E. Pereira, A catedral da G. e o seu retábulo, 1940; Bigotte, O culto de N. S. na diocese da G., Guarda 1948; Gama Barros, Historia da Administração pública em Portugal, Lisbon, 2nd ed., in progress.

J. Silva Saraiva