Diocese of Funchal Dioecesis Funchalensis Diocese do Funchal
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Portugal
Territory	Madeira
Ecclesiastical province	Lisbon
Metropolitan	Patriarchate of Lisbon
Headquarters	Largo Conde Ribeiro Real 49, Funchal
Coordinates	32°38′54″N 16°54′30″W / 32.6483°N 16.9083°W / 32.6483; -16.9083
Statistics
Area	800 km2 (310 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 261,802[1] 250,300[1] (95,6%)
Parishes	52
Schools	18
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	12 January 1514 (As Diocese of Funchal) 31 January 1533 (As Archdiocese of Funchal) 3 July 1551 (As Diocese of Funchal)
Cathedral	Our Lady of the Assumption
Patron saint	James the Less
Secular priests	73
Language	Portuguese
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop of Funchal	Nuno I
Metropolitan Archbishop	Manuel III
Vicar General	José Fiel de Sousa
Episcopal Vicars	Carlos Duarte Lino Nunes
Judicial Vicar	Marcos Fernandes Gonçalves
Bishops emeritus	Teodoro I and António III
Map
Website
https://www.diocesedofunchal.com

The Diocese of Funchal (Latin: Dioecesis Funchalensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It was originally created on 12 June 1514 by the papal bull Pro excellenti præeminentia from Pope Leo X, following the elevation of Funchal from a village to the status of city, by King Manuel I of Portugal (Royal Decree of 21 August 1508). The diocese was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lisbon.

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 Oceans. Thus, the Diocese comprised not only the Islands of Madeira, but all the territories discovered or to be discovered by the Portuguese. Thus, its jurisdiction extended throughout the western and eastern African territory, Brazil and Asia. Given its jurisdiction extent, the diocese's first bishop, D. Diogo Pinheiro used the title of Primate.^[2]

Nineteen years later, on 31 January 1533, the diocese was elevated to archiepiscopal rank. For twenty-two years it was, geographically, the largest metropolitan ecclesiastical province in the world,^[3] having as suffragan dioceses: Azores, Brazil, Africa^[4] and Goa. The first (and only) Archbishop was D. Martinho of Portugal, also held the title of Primate.^[2]

Following the Portuguese Empire's economic and social developments, new dioceses were created in 1534, whose areas were detached from the Diocese of Funchal: Goa, Angra, Santiago and São Tome, 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 revoked the situation by passing Funchal to the simple suffrage bishopric of the Archdiocese of Lisbon, as it remains today.^[2][3]

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. 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 appointed António Carrilho (António III) as Bishop of Funchal, until then Auxiliary Bishop of Porto. 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

Choice of Patron Saint

St. James the Less was chosen as Patron Saint^[7] of the Diocese time when Funchal faced various periods of plague in the 16th century.

In 1521, a severe plague 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, in his book Saudades da Terra accounts that "the city's Chapter and Senate resolved to choose by random ballot a patron saint among the Apostles... 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."^[2][8]

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.^[9]

Culture

List of Bishops of Funchal

Other affiliated bishops

Coat of Arms

On March 23, 2019, the Diocese announced through its Facebook page^[15] and on a historical note on its website^[16][17] its coat of arms. The arms were designed by Miguel Pinto-Correia^[15][18][19] following the economist's open letter to the Bishop published in the regional newspaper,^[20] suggesting that the Diocese should adopt a coat of arms on 600th anniversary of the discovery of Madeira.

Coat of arms of Diocese of Funchal

Adopted 2019 Coronet Bishop's Mitre Escutcheon Tierced in Mantle, Gules, Azure and Or; in Dexter an open Book Or with the letters Alpha and Omega Gules inscribed on each side, in Sinister an 8 Pointed-Star Argent, in base a Cross of the Order of Christ proper over Waves of Argent and Azure. Supporters A Croizer and Ceremonial Cross Or Motto Diocese do Funchal Symbolism The book represents the diocese's patron saint, St. James the Less. The red his martyrdom, the life made gift. The 8-pointed star represents Our Lady of the Monte and the blue colour symbolizes Our Lady, as Mother of God. The Cross of Christ represents the centrality of Christ and at the same time, it recalls the boat of Peter (Church) that navigates and goes in the dynamism of mission, of evangelization. The yellow is a tribute to the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the waves remind its emigrants spread all over the world. The waves also represent the archipelago.

References

External links

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

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Funchal.