Roman Catholic Diocese of Funchal

Coordinates: 32°38′54″N 16°54′30″W / 32.648333°N 16.908333°W / 32.648333; -16.908333

Diocese of Funchal
Dioecesis Funchalensis
Diocese do Funchal

Façade of the Cathedral
Location
Country Portugal, Portugal
Ecclesiastical province Lisbon
Metropolitan Patriarchate of Lisbon
Coordinates 32°38′54″N 16°54′30″W / 32.648333°N 16.908333°W / 32.648333; -16.908333
Statistics
Area 800 km2 (310 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2006)
282,000[1]
270,000[1] (95.7%)
Parishes 52
Information
Rite Roman Rite
Established January 12, 1514
Cathedral Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Funchal
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop António José Cavaco Carrilho
Metropolitan Archbishop Manuel III
Emeritus Bishops Teodoro de Faria Bishop Emeritus (1982–2007)
Map
Website
diocesedofunchal.pt

The Diocese of Funchal (Latin: Dioecesis Funchalensis) was created originally on January 12, 1514, by bull Pro excellenti præeminentia of Pope Leo X, following the elevation of Funchal from a village to the status of town (cidade), by King Manuel I of Portugal (royal mandate of August 21, 1508). The new diocese was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lisbon.

Nineteen years later, on January 31, 1533, it was elevated to Archiepiscopal rank, becoming during twenty two years, the largest Metropolitan ecclesiastical province (territorial) in the world, where it had the following suffragan dioceses: Azores, Brazil, Africa[2] and Goa. The first (and only) Archbishop was D. Martinho of Portugal (with the title of Primate). On July 3, 1551, a restructuring of the dioceses of Portugal and the Portuguese empire, led to the extinction of the Archdiocese of Funchal and its return to diocesan status. In 1570, Funchal was once more made a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lisbon (later Patriarchate), as it remains today.

None of the first three bishops appointed ever physically visited Madeira; only the fourth, Frei Jorge de Lemos, took personally possession of the episcopal Cathedra.

Until the 20th century, the bishops of Funchal used the title of Bishop of Madeira, of Porto Santo, of Desertas and of Arguim. The seat of the Diocese of Funchal is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Assunção).

On March 8, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed António José Cavaco Carrilho as Bishop of Funchal, until then Auxiliary Bishop of Porto. On 17th May, 2014, Pope Francis nominated Cardinal Fernando Filoni to preside over the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the diocese.[3]

List of Bishops of Funchal

Bispos do Funchal

1. D. Diego Pinheiro Lobo (1514–1526)

Archbishop of Funchal

2. D. Martinho de Portugal (1533–1547)

Bishops of Funchal

3. D. Frei Gaspar (I) do Casal (1551–1556)
4. D. Frei Jorge de Lemos (1556–1569)
5. D. Frei de Távora (1569–1573)
6. D. Jerónimo (I) Barreto (1573–1585)
7. D. Luís (I) de Figueiredo e Lemos (1585–1608)
8. D. Frei Lourenço de Távora (1610–1617)
9. D. Jerónimo (II) Fernando (1619–1650)
10. D. Frei Gabriel de Almeida (1670–1674)
11. D. Frei António (I) Teles da Silva (1674–1682)
12. D. Estêvão Brioso de Figueiredo (1683–1689)
13. D. Frei José (I) de Santa Maria (1690–1696)
14. D. José (I) de Sousa Castelo Branco (1698–1725)
15. D. Frei Manuel (I) Coutinho (1725–1741)
16. D. Frei João (I) do Nascimento (1741–1753)
17. D. Gaspar (II) Afonso da Costa Brandão (1756–1784)
18. D. José (III) da Costa Torres (1784–1796)
19. D. Luís (II) Rodrigues Vilares (1796–1811)
20. D. João (II) Joaquim Bernardino de Brito (1817–1819)
21. D. Francisco (I) José Rodrigues de Andrade (1821–1838)
22. D. José (IV) Xavier de Cerveira e Sousa (1844–1849)
23. D. Manuel (II) Martins Manso (1849–1858)
24. D. Patrício Xavier de Moura (1859–1872)
25. D. Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1872–1874)
26. D. Manuel (III) Agostinho Barreto (1876–1911)
27. D. António (II) Manuel Pereira Ribeiro (1914–1957)
28. D. Frei David de Sousa, O.F.M. (1957–1965)
29. D. João (III) António da Silva Saraiva (1965–1972)
30. D. Francisco (II) Antunes Santana (1974–1982)
31. D. Teodoro de Faria (1982–2007)
32. D. António José Cavaco Carrilho (2007 - present)

Notes

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Funchal.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.