The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Francisco Simón Conesa Ferrer as bishop of Solsona, Spain, transferring him from the see of Menorca.
Bishop Francisco Simón Conesa Ferrer was born on August 25, 1961, in Alicante. He carried out his ecclesiastical studies in the major seminary of Orihuela-Alicante and was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in theology from the San Vicente Ferrer Faculty in Valencia (1985).
He was ordained a priest on September 29, 1985. He was awarded a licentiate in theology (1991) and in philosophy and letters (1992), and a doctorate in theology (1994) and philosophy and letters (1995) from the Universidad de Navarra.
In the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante he held the offices of coadjutor of Nuestra Señora del Carmen a Elche (1985-1987), professor in the minor seminary (1992-1995); coadjutor of La Inmaculada in San Vicente del Raspeig (1994-1996); coadjutor of Nuestra Señora de Gracia in Alicante (1997-1998), pro-vicar general (1998-2002), and vicar general (2003-2014), parish priest-rector of the Basilica of Santa María in Elche, and archpriest (2014-2016).
He was appointed as bishop of Menorca on October 27, 2016, and consecrated on January 7, 2017.
Within the Spanish Episcopal Conference, he has been a member of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2017.
The Diocese
Located in the heart of Catalonia, the diocese of Solsona extends from the plains of Urgell to the mountains of Cadí and the springs of Llobregat and extends through the counties of Pla d’Urgell, Urgell, the Segarra, the Solsonès, the Bages and the Berguedà. The variety of the landscape also determines the livelihoods of its inhabitants: from irrigated fruit farmers and dryland and livestock farmers, to industrialists and miners, through forestry. An eminently rural diocese, where 75% of the parishes do not exceed 300 inhabitants and the largest do not reach 20,000.
The diocesan community of the Church of Solsona is made up of 170 parishes with a total population of 139,185. It has 51 chaplains residing in the diocese, 5 outside the diocese, and 3 living in mission countries. The diocese of Solsona was created in 1593, dismembering parishes in the neighboring dioceses of Urgell and Vic. Its first bishop was Lluís Sans i Còdol.
