Roman Catholic Diocese of Funchal

Diocese of Funchal Dioecesis Funchalensis Diocese do Funchal
Façade of the Cathedral
Location
Country	, Portugal
Ecclesiastical province	Lisbon
Metropolitan	Patriarchate of Lisbon
Coordinates
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 282,000 270,000 (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 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.

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)

External links

• Diocese do Funchal - Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese do Funchal - GCatholic
• Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption - gcatholic
• Diocese do Funchal - Catholic Encyclopedia

1. REDIRECT Template:Catholic dioceses in Portugal

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