Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrol


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondoñedo-Ferrol is the northernmost of the four Latin rite suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, which covers Galicia in North-western Spain. The area had previously been home to Britonia, a settlement founded by expatriate Britons in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. Britonia was represented by the diocese referred to as Britonensis ecclesia in sources from the 6th and 7th centuries.
The bishop has a cathedral, a minor basilica and World Heritage Site in Mondoñedo, administrative Province of Lugo, and a co-cathedral Concatedral de San Julián in Ferrol, administrative Province of A Coruña, as well as a former cathedral which is a minor basilica, Basilica de San Martín de Mondoñedo in Foz, Lugo province.

History

Some authorities have sought to fix the date of the foundation of this diocese earlier than the second half of the 6th century, but the later date seems the more probable when we consider that, at the Second Council of Braga, Mailoc, Bishop of Britonia, was ranked lowest because of the more recent origin of his see. It seems to have been founded by the Suevian king, Theodomir, converted to Catholicism by St Martin of Dumio, and to have included in its jurisdiction the churches of the Britones and some of those of the Asturias. In the beginning it was a suffragan of Lugo, until the Goths placed Lugo under the jurisdiction of Braga. After Mailoc no mention is found of the bishops of Britonia for a long time, doubtless because the great distance from Toledo made it impossible for them to assist at the councils. In 633 Metopius, Bishop of Britonia, assisted at the Fourth Council of Toledo, presided over by St Isidore of Seville. Sonna, his successor, was one of the bishops who signed at the Seventh Council of Toledo and sent a representative to the Eighth Council of Toledo. When Britonia was invaded and destroyed by the Saracens, the bishop and priests took refuge in Asturias. In 899, during the reign of Alfonso III of Asturias, Theodesimus, Bishop of Britonia, assisted with other prelates at the consecration of the church of Santiago de Compostela. It may also be noted that, in the repartition of the parishes, the church of San Pedro de Nova was assigned as the residence of the bishops of Britonia and Orense, when they should come to assist at the councils of Oviedo. By that time, however, the See of Britonia had been translated to the town of Mondumetum and the church of St. Martin of Dumio, or Mondoñedo. The diocese has since been most generally known by this name, although the episcopal residence has again changed. After the time of St. Martin it was transferred to Villamayor de Brea, from which it derived the name of Villabriensis, and afterwards to Ribadeo, but it was nevertheless known as Mindoniense, as a document of the year 1199 bears witness. At first, its patron was St. Martin of Tours, but St. Martin of Dumio was afterwards chosen patron.
The diocese of Valabria, corresponding to the diocese that had its seat at Villamayor de Brea, is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.

Leadership

Bishops of Britonia (Bretoña)

As of 2014, it pastorally served 290,000 Catholics on 4,425 km² in
422 parishes, covering the northern part of the Province of A Coruña and the Province of Lugo, with 153 priests, 225 lay religious and 3 seminarians.

Parishes by District

Azumara District
Begonte-Parga District
Cedeira District
Ferrol-Chamorro District
Ferrol-San Julian District
Miranda District
Mondoñedo District
Ortigueira District
As Pontes District
Ribadeo District
San Martino District
Terra Chá District
Valadouro District
Vilalba District
Viveiro District
Xubia District