The Diocese of Tortosa is a Roman Catholic diocese in Catalonia and Valencian Country. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Tarragona. Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Benavent Vidal of Valencia has been Bishop of Tortosa since 2013.
The Diocese of Tortosa gives a certain foundation to an ancient historical region that, despite having no political representation, shares common historical, cultural and linguistic ties. This territory is known as Ilercavonia in academic and scientific circles.
The territory of the historical Diocese of Tortosa was greatly reduced during General Franco's dictatorship, following the Concordat of 1953 between the Francoist regime and the Vatican. Under the pretext of adapting the dioceses to the civil provincial limits the Consistorial Congregation, bending to the wishes of the dictator, broke up the traditional region of the Diocese of Tortosa:
On the 2d September 1955, the Cesaraugustanae et aliarum decree of the Consistorial Congregation was published and the following year the parishes of Arenys de Lledó, Calaceit, Cretes and Lledó d'Algars in Matarranya, doing away with the traditional Aragonese parishes of the Diocese of Tortosa. Meanwhile, Betxí, an enclave of the Diocese of Teruel, was briefly added (1956-1960) to the Diocese of Tortosa and Maials was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida.
Following the De mutatione finium Dioecesium Valentinae-Segorbicensis-Dertotensis decree, of 31 May 1960, the parishes of Nules, Vila-real, Castelló de la Plana, Lucena and Albocàsser that had historically belonged to the Diocese of Tortosa were aggregated to the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón along with the parish of Betxí. Francoist propaganda presented the changes as an occasion for rejoicing.
Juan de Enguera, O.P. (1512-1513 Died)
Luis Mercader Escolano, O. Cart. (1513-1516)
Adriaan Florenszoom Dedel (1516-1522 Elected Pope)
Willem van Enckenvoirt (1523-1534 Died)
Antonio Calcena, O.F.M. (1537-1539 Died)
Jerónimo Requeséns (1542 -1548 Died)
Fernando de Loaces (Loazes), O.P. (1553-1560 Appointed, Archbishop of Tarragona)
Martín de Córdoba Mendoza, O.P. (1560-1574 Appointed, Bishop of Plasencia)
Juan Izquierdo, O.P. (1574-1585 Died)
Joan Terès (i Borrull) (1586- 1587 Appointed, Archbishop of Tarragona)
Juan Bautista Cardona (1587-1589 Died)
Gaspar Punter (1589-1600 Died)
Pedro Manrique de Lara (archbishop), O.S.A. (1601-1611 Appointed, Archbishop of Zaragoza)
Isidoro Aliaga, O.P. (1611-1612 Appointed, Archbishop of Valencia)
Alfonso Márquez de Prado (1612-1616 Appointed, Bishop of Cartagena)
Luis Tena (1616-1622 Died)
Agustin Spinola Basadone (1623-1626 Died)
Justino Antolínez Burgos (1627-1637 Died)
Juan Bautista Verchi de Campania (Giovanni Battista Visco), O.F.M. (1640-1653 Confirmed, Bishop of Pozzuoli)
Gregorio Parcero de Castro, O.S.B. (1655-1663 Died)
José Fageda, O.S.H. (1664-1685 Died)
Severo Tomás Auter, O.P. (1686-1700 Died)
Silvestre García Escalona (1702-1714 Confirmed, Bishop of Salamanca)
Juan Miguélez Mendaña (1714-1717 Died)
Bartolomé Camacho Madueño (1720-1757 Died)
Francisco Borrull Ramón (1757-1768 Died)
Luis García Mañero (1759-1764 Appointed, Archbishop of Zaragoza)
Bernardo Velarde Velarde (1765-1779 Appointed, Archbishop of Zaragoza)
Pedro Cortez y Larraz (1779-1786 Retired)
Victoriano López Gonzalo (1786-1789 Appointed, Bishop of Cartagena)
Antonio José Salinas y Moreno, O.F.M. (1790-1814 Died)
Manuel Ros de Medrano (1814-1821 Died)
Víctor Damián Sáez y Sánchez Mayor (1824-1839 Died)
Damián Gordo Sáez (1848-1854 Died)
Gil Estévez y Tomás (1857-1858 Died)
Miguel José Pratmans Llambés (1859-1861 Died)
José Raimundo Benito Villamitjana Vila (1861-1879 Confirmed, Archbishop of Tarragona)
Francisco Aznar y Pueyo (1879-1893 Died)
Pedro Rocamora y García (1894-1925 Died)
Félix Bilbao y Ugarriza (1925-1943 Died)
Manuel Moll y Salord (1943-1968 Resigned)
Ricardo María Carles Gordó (1969-1990 Appointed, Archbishop of Barcelona)
Lluís Martínez Sistach (1991-1997 Appointed, Archbishop of Tarragona)
Javier Salinas Viñals (1997-2012 Appointed, Bishop of Mallorca)
Enrique Benavent Vidal (2013-)
