A catheter adapted for use in the pericardial sac to sense temperature of anablation siteand surrounding heart tissue within one of the heart's ventricles or atria viaproximity with theepicardium in the pericardial sac, includes a catheter body and a temperaturesensing arrayadapted for placement on and contact with the epicardium. The temperaturesensing array maycomprise a 2-D body, with a surface adapted to contact an area on theepicardial tissue or inpericardial space. The array may also comprise at least one finger member,each having at leastone temperature sensing location. The array may further comprise an elongatedbody having agenerally circular configuration, a distal portion of which is movable to aspirally inwardposition.
