PAMPLONA, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the province of Navarre, in Spain. An ancient tradition makes St. Firminus, disciple of St. Saturninus, bishop of Toulouse in the third century, the first evangelizer of P. It is certain that at the Third Council of Toledo (589) Liliolus, bishop of P., was present. After the Arab invasion, in 829 the bishop Opilanus is found there. He and his successors resided in the monastery of Leyre, founded in the seventh century. At the Council of P. in 1090, it was decided to restore the bishopric, provided that its incumbents came from the said monastery. Toward the end of the eleventh century the bishops transferred their residence to P., and the Cathedral was then built.
The diocese of P., a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Saragossa, comprises almost the whole of Navarre (v.). That of Tudela was added to it in 1851; in 1889 it separated again in order to unite with that of Tarazona. The diocese of P. covers 9053 sq km and has 324,832 inhabitants; it has 1274 churches (560 parishes), 990 diocesan priests, and 327 religious; and a magnificent seminary with more than 500 students. There are 168 convents with 2213 religious men and women. This notable number of ecclesiastical and religious vocations indicates the profound religiousness of the faithful of P. In 49 charitable institutions, 3300 persons receive assistance. Primary and secondary education and the work of spiritual retreats are flourishing.
The ancient Romanesque cathedral of P., which collapsed in 1390, was rebuilt seven years later, although the façade dates from the eighteenth century. It has a fine Gothic cloister. The magnificent tombs of the kings of Navarre are also Gothic. The parish church of
Pamplona (Navarre), Cathedral.
S. Saturnino, in Romanesque and Gothic styles, was built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, while that of S. Nicola, dating from the twelfth century, is in an elegant Gothic style.
Within the diocese of P. are the monastery of Leyre, recently rebuilt and repopulated, and the castle of Xavier, belonging to the family of that name and the birthplace of St. Francis Xavier. The Duchess of Villahermosa had it restored at the beginning of this century and built beside it a splendid Neo-Romanesque basilica.