Diocese of Ibiza

The Diocese of Ibiza is a diocese of the Catholic Church comprising Ibiza and Formentera situated in the Balearic Islands and located in the ecclesiastical province of Valencia, Spain.

History

In the early medieval period, Ibiza was under the control of the muslim Al-Andalus. On 8 August 1235, Ibiza was conquered for Christianity by Guillermo de Montgrí, the Archbishop-elect of Tarragona. As a result of a promise made prior to the invasion, a parish dedicated to the Virgin Mary was established under the Archdiocese of Tarragona as the only parish on the island. On 30 April 1782 Pope Pius VI issued a papal bull that established as Diocese of Ibiza under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tarragona.
In 1851, following a concordat between the Kingdom of Spain and the Holy See, the diocese was suppressed and intended to fall under the Diocese of Majorca. However due to local dissent, the full integration into Majorca was never carried out. The Catholic Church in Ibiza was then run by ecclesiastic governors appointed by the Archbishop of Tarragona. In 1927, following requests from Ibizans and Formenterians as well as the Bishop of Majorca and the chaplain to the Queen of Spain, the Pope restored the Diocese of Ibiza's autonomy with the creation of the Apostolic Administration of Ibiza and in 1949, the Diocese of Ibiza was formally re-established suo jure by Pope Pius XII and placed under the Archdiocese of Valencia.