José da Cruz Policarpo (; 26 February 1936 – 12 March 2014), officially referred to as José IV, Patriarch of Lisbon, though usually referred to as "D. José Policarpo", was Patriarch of Lisbon from 24 March 1998 to 18 May 2013.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

made him a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 2001. Policarpo held a doctorate in theology from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome.

Early life

He was born on 26 February 1936 in Alvorninha,

Caldas da Rainha Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portugal, Portuguese city in the Oeste Subregion, Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura Province (1936–1976), Estremadura, and in the Leiria District, district of Leiria. The city serves a ...

, Portugal, the first of nine children of José Policarpo sr. (

, Alvorninha, Lugar do Pego, 18 April 1902 –

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Odivelas Odivelas () is a municipality in the Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. The municipality is located 8 km northwest of the center of Lisbon. Predominantly a residential suburb, the population in 2021 was 148 034, in an area of 26.54 km2 (one of t ...

, 20 October 1987) and wife (m.

, Alvorninha, 26 January 1935) Maria Gertrudes Rosa ( Alcobaça, Benedita, 17 October 1909 –

, Alvorninha, 6 September 1994), and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest on 15 August 1961 in Lisbon by Manuel Cardinal Cerejeira. José da Cruz' eight siblings were: Maria do Céu (b. 1939), Maria Adélia (b. 1942), Aníbal, Joaquim, António, Maria da Graça, Maria Edite (b. 1947) and Fernando (b. 1952).

Early career

Policarpo was director of the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in Penafirme, rector of the seminary in Olivais and dean of the Theological Faculty of the Portuguese Catholic University. He later served two terms as rector of the same university (1988–96) and is the author of a number of books and scholarly articles.

Appointed bishop

On 26 May 1978 Policarpo 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 Caliabria and

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 Lisbon, receiving episcopal consecration on 29 June. On 5 March 1997 he was appointed Coadjuctor Archbishop of Lisbon and succeeded Cardinal António Ribeiro as

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

on 24 March 1998. Cardinal Policarpo was also President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and Grand Chancellor of the Portuguese Catholic University.

Cardinal

He was created a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 21 February 2001, as

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of Sant'Antonio in Campo Marzio. He was a member of the

Congregation for Catholic Education The Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study) () was the pontifical congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for: universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either ecclesial or non-ecclesiastical depende ...

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...

, and Pontifical Council for Culture in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. Policarpo was one of about a dozen like-minded prelates, all European cardinals or bishops, who met annually from 1995 to 2006 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to discuss reforms with respect to the appointment of bishops, collegiality, bishops' conferences, the primacy of the papacy and sexual morality; they differed among themselves, but shared the view that Cardinal

Joseph Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

was not the sort of candidate they hoped to see elected at the next conclave. Upon the death of

in 2005, Policarpo was considered to be ''

papabile ( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...

'' – a possible successor to the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. On 11 April 2005, the British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' considered him to be "a dark-horse candidate for pope, capable of bridging the divide between the Europeans and the Latin American Roman Catholic cardinals". The 2005 papal conclave, in which he participated as a cardinal elector, ultimately elected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. He was also a cardinal elector in the

conclave of 2013 A papal conclave was held on 12 and 13 March 2013 to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February 2013. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected Cardina ...

which elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. As a result of his position in the seniority among cardinals, when Cardinal Policarpo took the oath of secrecy in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

at the start of the conclave, he took the oath immediately after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the cardinal ultimately elected as

. His resignation was accepted on 18 May 2013 and Manuel Clemente, Bishop of Porto, was named to succeed him.

Controversies

Pro-abortion-rights politicians

His refusal to deny communion or

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the co ...

those who called themselves Catholics and who openly supported legalization of abortion was also criticised by many

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

Catholics for being one of the main reasons for the legalisation of abortion in Portugal, in 2007. However, he did not openly deny the right of the Portuguese Roman Catholic priests to refuse them communion, which many in fact did.

Marriages with Muslim men

On 14 January 2009, the cardinal directed a warning to young women to "think twice" before marrying Muslim men: Christians should learn more about

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and respect Muslims, but marrying a Muslim man is getting into a lot of trouble, that not even

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

knows where it would end, if the couple moved to an Islamic country. He also said that dialogue "with our Muslim brothers" is difficult, because it is possible to dialogue only with those who want to have dialogue. Human rights group

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

criticized Policarpo for inciting "discrimination" and "intolerance", and a representative of the Muslim community in Portugal said they were hurt and surprised by his words, but remarked that his words could be interpreted as a call to respect differences and get to know the other religion. A spokesman for the Portuguese Episcopal Conference said the cardinal had offered "realistic advice" rather than "discrimination" or "contempt for another culture or religion".

Ordination of women

Cardinal da Cruz Policarpo in June 2011 stated in a magazine interview that, while there is no fundamental theological obstacle to

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

, there is, in fact, an obstacle regarding the strong tradition dating from Jesus. There will certainly be no change in our lifetime, he said, and so the question ought not to be raised – it provokes many reactions. Nearly two weeks after giving the interview, he issued a clarification of his comments, in which he unequivocally reaffirmed the teaching of Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio sacerdotalis.

Honours

Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(11 May 2010)

References

;Additional sources *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Policarpo, Jose Da Cruz 1936 births 2014 deaths 21st-century Portuguese cardinals Patriarchs of Lisbon Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture People from Caldas da Rainha Members of the Congregation for Catholic Education Archbishops of Lisbon 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Portugal