The Roman Catholic Church in Portugal is composed only of a Latin hierarchy, joint in the national

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

(Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa ), consisting of * three

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 ...

s, headed by Metropolitan Archbishops (one of which (Lisbon) holds the superior rank of Patriarch), with a total of 17

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

dioceses. * an exempt

military ordinariate A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military ...

. There are no Eastern Catholic jurisdictions. There is also an Apostolic Nunciature to Portugal as papal diplomatic representation (embassy-level), in the national capital

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 ...

Current Latin Dioceses

Exempt : immediately subject to the Holy See

Military Ordinariate of Portugal The Military Ordinariate of Portugal ( pt, Ordinariato Castrense de Portugal) is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Portuguese Arme ...

(Ordinariato Castrense de Portugal : army bishopric)

Defunct jurisdictions

Titular sees

* Seven (Latin) Episcopal

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

s : Aquæ flaviæ, Diocese of Caliábria,

Diocese of Dume Dume is a former ''freguesia'' ("civil parish") and former bishopric in the municipality of Braga, northern Portugal, which remains a Catholic titular see. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Real, Dume e Semelhe. It has a population ...

, Diocese of Elvas, Diocese of Magnetum, Diocese of Penafiel,

Diocese of Pinhel Pinhel () is a concelho, municipality, former Catholic bishopric and present Latin titular see in the Centro, Portugal, central subregion of Beira Interior Norte, in Portugal. The municipality population in 2011 was 9,627, in an area of 484.52&nbs ...

Other defunct sees

* Diocese of Betecas, Diocese of Egitânia, Diocese of Elbora, Diocese of Miranda, Diocese of Olisipo,

Diocese of Ossonoba The Diocese of Faro ( la, Dioecesis Pharaonensis), also called the Diocese of the Algarve and formerly the Diocese of Silves, is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Évora. The current bishop of Faro is Dom Manuel Neto Quintas. History A see in ...

, Diocese of Portucale, Diocese of Salácia, Diocese of Silves (Algarve precursor of present Faro).

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

{{Roman Catholic dioceses in Portugal *