Roman Catholic Diocese of Huesca

Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Spain

The Diocese of Huesca (Latin, Oscensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in north eastern Spain, in the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The Diocese of Huesca is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Zaragoza. The diocese encompasses parts of the province of Huesca in north eastern Spain, seven parishes in the Broto valley and three within the territorial limits of the Archdiocese of Saragossa, one parish being situated in the city of Saragossa itself. The Diocese of Huesca was created in or before the 6th century; after the Moorish conquest of 713 its bishops moved to Aragon (the itinerant "Bishops of Aragon"). The episcopal seat was established in Jaca during 1063 1096, then finally moved back to Huesca after king Pedro I of Aragon took the city from the Moors in November 1096.

The date of origin of the diocese cannot be definitely ascertained; the earliest evidence of its existence is the signature of Gabinius, Bishop of Huesca, to the decrees of the Third Council of Toledo, held in 589. Isidore of Seville, writing in the 7th century, mentions the presence of Elpidius, Bishop of Huesca, at an earlier council, but this is not considered authoritative. The year of the diocese being erected is given as 533. A synod held in the diocese in 598 ordered annual diocesan conferences and enacted various disciplinary measures.

A council held at Jaca in 1063 determined anew the boundaries of the Diocese of Huesca, which thereafter included the present dioceses of Huesca, Jaca, and Barbastro, as well as a part of the Diocese of Lérida. Jaca was then made the permanent seat of the diocese. At the same time Sancho II was appointed Bishop of Huesca, and hastened to request the Pope Alexander II to confirm the decisions of the council. In the same year of 1063, however, King Sancho Ramirez of Aragon (1063 1094) had won back from the Moors the city of Barbastro, and had granted it to the Bishop of Roda. García Ramírez, the new Bishop of Huesca (1076–1086) and the king's brother, regarded this as an infringement of the rights of jurisdiction granted the Bishop of Jaca by the council of Jaca. He therefore renewed his petition to the new pope (Gregory VII) to have the decisions of the council confirmed, which request the pope granted As, however, Bishop Raimundo of Roda also obtained the confirmation of all his privileges from Gregory, a violent dispute arose between the Bishops of Huesca and Roda as to jurisdiction over the churches of Barbastro, Bielsa, Gistao, and Alquezar, which in 1080 was decided by the king in favour of the Bishop of Roda.

In November 1096, King Pedro I of Aragon took back Huesca from the Moors and restored the original see. Pope Urban II decreed (May 11, 1098) that, instead of Jaca, Huesca should again be the seat of the bishop, as it had been until the year 713
But Jaca itself had a separate existence under a vicar general, independent of the Bishop of Huesca. It also retained its own cathedral chapter, which originally followed the Rule of St. Augustine, but in 1270 both this chapter and that of Huesca were secularized. The history of the Diocese of Huesca is from this time on closely associated with that of the present Diocese of Barbastro. The episcopal city of Huesca was long a centre for education and art. Ancient Osca was the seat of the famous school of Sertorius. After the failure of his plans at Perpignan, king Pedro IV of Aragon in 1354 established a university at Huesca, which was maintained by a tax laid on the city's food, and which pursued a steady if not a brilliant existence until it was eclipsed by the great college at Saragossa. In 1571, the Diocese of Barbastro was erected out of part of Huesca. From 1848 to 1851 the See of Huesca was vacant. The Concordat of 1851 formally annexed Barbastro once more to Huesca, but preserving its name and administration, being administered by a vicar Apostolic.

In 1910 the Diocese of Huesca comprised 181 parishes and 15 subsidiary parishes, with 240 priests and 50 churches and chapels. It had a Catholic population of 87,659. In 1950 there were 110,000 Catholics in the diocese. There were 196 parishes in the diocese. By 1980 there were 76,500 Catholics in the diocese, and it had 197 parishes. The year 1990 saw 82,500 Catholics and 210 parishes in the diocese. By 2004 there were 78,000 Catholics and 200 parishes.