Américo Henriques (1923—2006) was a Portuguese

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the second and final

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Nova Lisboa, before its promotion and renaming as the Archdiocese of Huambo.

Biography

Born on 6 October 1923 in Portugal, Américo Henriques was ordained a priest on 19 July 1947 in the

Diocese of Lamego The Diocese of Lamego () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. History Lamego became Catholic when the Visigoths, Visigothic king Reccared I converted to Catholicism. According to local tradition, the city of Lamego rece ...

. On 3 July 1966, he was elevated to the prelature as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Lamego. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

to the

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

Archbishop 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 archdi ...

Maximilien de Furstenberg, who was later elevated to cardinal. He held that position for less than a year before becoming

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. On 3 February 1966, Henriques was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Lamego following the retirement of Bishop João da Silva Campos Neves, who had served for more than 20 years. On that same date, he was appointed

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of the

Titular See 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 archbi ...

of Tisili, and was ordained to the position on 11 October 1966. He served in that position for a little more than a year, before being appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Nova Lisboa in what is now

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

on 2 February 1971. He was the second and last bishop of that diocese, as it was promoted and renamed the Archdiocese of Huambo following his retirement on 13 April 1976. He died on 14 August 2006 at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henriques, Americo 1923 births 2006 deaths Portuguese Roman Catholic bishops in Africa Bishops of Lamego 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Angola Roman Catholic bishops of Huambo Portuguese expatriates in Angola