The Diocese of

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its hig ...

( la, Dioecesis Funchalensis) was created originally on 12 June 1514, by

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''Pro excellenti præeminentia'' of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

, following the elevation of

from a village to the status of city, by King Manuel I of Portugal (Royal Decree of 21 August 1508). The new diocese was a suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Lisbon The Patriarchate of Lisbon ( la, Patriarchatus Olisiponensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Its archiepiscopal see is the Patriarchal Cathedral o ...

. Before the issuance of the papal bull, between 1433 and 1514 the civil and religious administrations were in charge of the Grand-Master of the Order of Christ. In fact all Portuguese Atlantic territories were under the jurisdiction of Order of Christ, until the situation changed in 1514 with the creation of the Diocese. Once the diocese was created, the bishop of Funchal had jurisdiction over the entire area occupied by the Portuguese in the Atlantic and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Oceans. Thus, the Diocese comprised not only the Islands of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, but all the territories discovered or to be discovered by the Portuguese. Thus, its jurisdiction extended throughout the western and eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n territory,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Given its jurisdiction extent, the diocese's first bishop, D. Diogo Pinheiro used the title of

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

. Nineteen years later, on 31 January 1533, the diocese was elevated to

archiepiscopal In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

rank. For twenty-two years it was, geographically, the largest metropolitan

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

in the world, having as

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandri ...

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Original Catholic Encyclopedia – Vicariate Apostolic of Natal
/ref> and Goa. The first (and only) Archbishop was D. Martinho of Portugal, also held the title of Primate. Following the Portuguese Empire's economic and social progress new dioceses were created in 1534, whose areas were detached from the Diocese of Funchal: Goa, Angra, Santiago and

São Tome SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

, São Salvador da Bahia. Later, on January 31, 1533, the Diocese of Funchal was elevated to the category of metropolitan and primate. In 1551

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

revoked the situation by passing Funchal to the simple suffrage bishopric of the Archdiocese of Lisbon, as it remains today. The first bishop to visit the diocese was D. Ambrósio Brandão, in 1538, on behalf of the diocesan bishop D. Martinho of Portugal. After the death of D. Martinho de Portugal, the only archbishop of Funchal, the cathedral remained vacant until 1551. One year later, in 1552, Fr. Gaspar do Casal, who did not reside on the island, was appointed, and the most salient fact of his action was his participation in the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

. His successors, D. Jorge de Lemos, D. Jerónimo Barreto and D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos, applied the Council and were the true workers of this reform. The first bishop of Funchal to actually reside, full-time, after his appointment was D. Jorge de Lemos, in 1558. Throughout its more than five centuries of history the diocese has only be headed by two Madeirans so far: D. Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, who would then become Archbishop of Goa, and D. Teodoro de Faria. 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. On 8 March 2007,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

appointed António Carrilho (António III) as Bishop of Funchal, until then Auxiliary Bishop of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

. Together with Cardinal Fernando Filoni, António III, presided over the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the diocese on 17 May 2014. The current bishop of Funchal is Nuno I, who took office on February 17, 2019.

Administrative divisions

The diocese is currently organized into seven Archpriestships, which themselves are subdivided into a total of 96

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Choice of Patron Saint

St. James the Less was chosen as Patron Saint of the Diocese time when Funchal faced various periods of plague in the 16th century. In 1521, a severe

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

spread throughout the city. Although local authorities, at the time, had sought to isolate the sick in order to control the plague outbreak, the efforts made seemed to be vain.

Gaspar Frutuoso Gaspar Frutuoso (c.1522 in Ponta Delgada – 1591 in Ribeira Grande) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was hi ...

, in his book ''Saudades da Terra'' accounts that "the city's Chapter and Senate resolved to choose by

random ballot The random ballot, single stochastic vote, or lottery voting is an electoral system in which an election is decided on the basis of a single randomly selected ballot. It is closely related to random dictatorship; the latter is a general rule fo ...

a patron saint among the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

... After having prayed before God, a boy named John picked a note, where the name of James Minor was written, and they soon rejoiced all over the city." Two years later, the civil authorities and the Dean of the Chapter met again in Funchal's Cathedral and confirmed the choice made of St. James Minor as their patron, with the commitment to celebrate him every year in his chapel with mass and procession in the Cathedral first day of May.

Schools

The diocese directly runs one higher education institution, one theological school and several other schools on the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

Municipality of Funchal

Higher Education

* Superior School for

Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

José de Cluny

Religious Education

* Theological School of Funchal

Schools and High Schools

* Arendrup School * Complementary School of Til (APEL) * Maria Eugénia de Canavial School * Missionary School of the Sacred Heart of Jesus * Presentation of Mary School * Prince Henry, The Navigator School * Princess Maria-Amélia School * Saint John of the Brook School * Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face School * Salesian School

Other Municipalities

Schools and High Schools * Saint Francis of Sales School - Calheta * Saint Ana School -

Machico Machico () is a municipality, parish and city in the southeast part of the island of Madeira, in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. The easternmost municipality on the island, it is also the third-most populous area with a population of 21,828 in ...

* Holy Family School - Santana * Our Lady of the Conception School -

Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The mun ...

Island * Saint Constable School - Santa Cruz * Saint Francis of Sales School - Santa Cruz

Culture

Sacred Art Museum of Funchal

The Sacred Art Museum of Funchal, run by the diocese is housed in the former Episcopal Palace, founded by D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos in 1594. The building was designed by Jerónimo Jorge, Master of Royal Works, who worked in the conception and design of defenses of the city of Funchal. From the primitive building, a section still survives, on the current square of the Municipality and Rua do Bispo. Mannerist sobriety is clearly visible in the northern arch or in the Chapel of Saint Louis of Toulosa, which has an inscription on the façade with the name of its founder, D. Luís de Figueiredo Lemos and dated 1600. D. António Teles da Silva, Bishop of Funchal, carried out new improvement works, between 1675-1682. With the visit of the Ajuda Palace's Curator Manuel Cayola Zagallo, the diocese became more and more aware of the importance of the

Flemish Art The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

collection it owned and that was spread throughout the churches and chapels of its territory. With the unequivocal support from the diocese and the public entities of the time, the identified works were sent to be restore in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. After important conservation and restoration work by Fernando Mardel, the paintings were exhibited in Lisbon at the National Museum of Ancient Art in 1949. They would later integrate the Funchal Museum of Sacred Art, inaugurated in 1955. To this set were added other works, especially of Goldsmithing, Ecclesiastic Garments and Sculpture, mostly from Portuguese workshops, which were, in many cases out of worship and in poor condition, in many churches of the diocese, and which became part of the Museum's collections. The Museum's collection include works attributed to painter such as

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

Dieric Bouts Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) ...

Joos Van Cleve Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...

Jan Provoost Jan Provoost, or Jean Provost, or Jan Provost (1462/65 – January 1529) was a Belgian painter born in Mons. Provost was a prolific master who left his early workshop in Valenciennes to run two workshops, one in Bruges, where he was made a burghe ...

and Pieter de Coeck Van Aelst.

Madeira Organ Festival

Together with the

Regional Government of Madeira The Government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira is the local government of this Portuguese autonomous region. The Regional Government is one of the two organs of self-government of the Autonomous Region along with the Regional Legislative A ...

the diocese promotes, by allowing its churches to act as concert venues, for the island's Organ Festival. This festival is usually organized in a set of twelve concerts, headlined by nationally and internationally renowned Master Organ players.

Media

The diocese of Funchal runs a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

(PEF - Posto Emissor de Rádio Difusão do Funchal), that broadcasts the news from

Rádio Renascença Rádio Renascença, also known as 'RR' or just 'Renascença' (Renaissance in English), is a private, commercial radio station in Portugal, owned by various organizations within the Portuguese Catholic Church: among others, the Patriarchate of Li ...

, and an

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newsp ...

(Jornal da Madeira).

List of Bishops of Funchal

Bishops do Funchal

:1. D. Diego Pinheiro Lobo (1514–1526)

Archbishop of Funchal

:2. D.

Martinho de Portugal '' Dom'' Martinho de Portugal (1485 - 15 November 1547), also known as Martinho of Portugal, was a Portuguese archbishop, the only Archbishop of Funchal, holder of the largest Catholic jurisdiction in the world, ever created, which had as suffra ...

(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), appointed Bishop of Faro :7. D. Luís (I) de Figueiredo e Lemos (1585–1608) :8. D. Frei Lourenço de Távora (1610–1617), appointed Bishop of Elvas :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), appointed Bishop of Porto :14. D. José (I) de Sousa Castelo Branco (1698–1725) :15. D. Frei Manuel (I) Coutinho (1725–1741), appointed Bishop of Lamego :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), appointed Bishop of Elvas :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), appointed Bishop of Beija :23. D. Manuel (II) Martins Manso (1849–1858), appointed Bishop of Guarda :24. D. Patrício Xavier de Moura (1859–1872) :25. D. Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1872–1874), appointed Archbishop of Goa, India :26. D. Manuel (III) Agostinho Barreto (1876–1911) :27. D. António (II) Manuel Pereira Ribeiro (1914–1957) :28. D. Frei David de Sousa, OFM (1957–1965), appointed Archbishop of Évora :29. D. João (III) António da Silva Saraiva (1965–1972), appointed Bishop of Coimbra :30. D. Francisco (II) Antunes Santana (1974–1982) :31. D. Teodoro de Faria (1982–2007) :32. D. António (III) José Cavaco Carrilho (2007–2019) :33. D. Nuno Brás da Silva Martins (2019–present)

Other affiliated bishops

Coadjutor bishop

* Aires de Ornelas de Vasconcelos (1871-1872)

Auxiliary bishop

Manuel de Jesus Pereira Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

(1948-1953), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

Other priests of this diocese who became Cardinals

António Mendes Bello Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, appointed Archbishop (personal title), Auxiliary of

in 1884; future Cardinal * Teodosio Clemente de Gouveia, appointed Prelate of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

in 1936; future Cardinal * José Tolentino de Mendonça, appointed Archbishop in 2018 (Cardinal in 2019)

Coat of Arms

On March 23, 2019, the Diocese announced through its Facebook page and on a historical note on its website its coat of arms. The arms were designed by Miguel Pinto-Correia following the economist's open letter to the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

published in the regional newspaper, suggesting that the Diocese should adopt a coat of arms on 600th anniversary of the

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

References

External links

Diocese do Funchal
– Catholic-Hierarchy

– GCatholic

– gcatholic

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' {{authority control Organisations based in Madeira

1514 establishments in Portugal Religious organizations established in the 1510s

Funchal, Roman Catholic Diocese of