LEÓN, DIOCESI di. – City and diocese of Spain, suffragan of Burgos; it has an area of 29,596 sq. km. and 170,987 inhabitants, distributed among 816 parishes with 630 diocesan priests and 59 religious priests; one seminary, 8 male and 43 female communities (Annuario Pontificio, 1951).
It is the ancient Legio, of which, however, information is available only from the 3rd century; the name of its bishop Decenzio is found among those attending the famous Council of Illiberis. During Arab rule, since this region regained its freedom very early, it already had distinguished bishops in the 9th century, among them St. Pelagius and St. Froilan, who is the patron of the diocese, and in the 11th century two others venerated as saints: Alvito and Cipriano. At the end of the same century, that is, in 1099, Urban II incorporated the diocese into the metropolitan see of Toledo, but shortly afterward Paschal II restored its autonomy. Subsequently, however, it became suffragan of Burgos. Of particular importance for ecclesiastical law in Spain was the Synod of 1020, at which the Asturian and Galician prelates were also present. In 1037 Fernando I was crowned king of L. and Castile. The two kingdoms, separated again, were reunited in 1230 by St. Fernando III, who from there set out to conquer Cordova and Seville. The diocese of L. had fluctuating boundaries according to the course of the war against the Moors. Today its territory coincides largely with the civil province of the same name, together with 62 parishes that it has in the province of Santander, 154 in Palencia, 49 in Valladolid, and 18 in Zamora. The Cathedral—in which the body of St. Isidore, Doctor of the Church, is venerated—is one of the most beautiful and artistic in Spain, built over ancient Roman baths, substantial remains of which have recently been discovered. Before Visigothic rule, L. had the church of St. Mary, where the Cathedral now stands; this temple was enlarged in the 10th century through the efforts of King Orduño II, after L. had been designated capital of the Kingdom, the bishop Frunimio having obtained the royal Baths Palace for this work. During the invasion of the sultan Almanzor the Cathedral was destroyed, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward.
A celebrated Council was held in this temple in 1020, and the Leonese kings Alfonso V and Alfonso VII, called the Emperor, were crowned there. The present building was begun at the end of the 12th century, under Bishop Manrique of Lara, according to a design of sovereign beauty whose author is unknown, perhaps the master Pietro Cebrian. The plan is a Latin cross with three aisles in pure Gothic style; the stained-glass windows are among the most splendid of the period. The façade is supremely elegant, with two towers and a magnificent portico; tombs and statues abound in the cloister. The Archive contains precious codices, and numerous relics are found in the Cathedral Treasury. Also noteworthy is the R. Collegiate Church of St. Isidore, founded at the beginning of the 11th century by King Alfonso V, although the present temple was built in the middle of the same century by King Ferdinand I and his daughter Urraca, and completed a few years later. There are two seminaries in L.: that of St. Froilan, established in 1606, and that of St. Matthew of Valderas, in 1710. Famous bishops in the 16th century included the cardinals F. Desprats, G. de Vera, L. d’Aragona, and S. Merino, and the three bishops who attended the Council of Trent: Temiño, Cuesta, and G. de S. Millán.
LEÓN, DIOCESI di. – City and diocese in Nicaragua.
It has an area of 18,225 sq. km. and 327,974 inhabitants, of whom 318,285 are Catholics; it has 51 parishes served by 39 diocesan priests and 26 religious priests; one seminary, 11 male and 11 female religious communities (Annuario Pontificio, 1951, pp. 243–44).
The diocese was created on 3 November 1534 under the title of Nicaragua and with its residence in L., a city founded in 1523. The first bishop was Mgr. Diego Alvarez. At first it appears to have been suffragan either of Mexico or of Lima, but Pope Benedict XIV made it suffragan of Guatemala. Pope Pius X, by a decree of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation dated 2 December 1913, removed the diocese of Nicaragua from the metropolitan see of Guatemala, dividing it into four parts and establishing a new ecclesiastical province. The bishop of Nicaragua, whose see was in L., relinquished the title of Nicaragua and assumed that of bishop of L. in Central America, while the see remained in L. and became suffragan of the new metropolitan see of Managua.
Enrico Josi
LEÓN, DIOCESI di. – City and diocese in Mexico.
It has an area of 14,720 sq. km. and a population of 575,000 inhabitants, of whom 570,400 are Catholics, distributed among 50 parishes served by 185 diocesan priests and 36 religious priests; one seminary; it has 10 male and 48 female religious communities (Ann. Pontif., 1951, p. 243).
Pope Paul III, acceding to the requests of Charles V, created the archdiocese of Mexico on 31 January 1545, and the bishop of the suffragan see of Michoacan had his residence where the city of Morcha now stands.
Pope Pius IX, on 16 March 1863, created the diocese of L. by dividing the see of Michoacan, with its see in the city of the same name, founded in 1576 on the right bank of the Rio Torbio, a rich agricultural and mining center.