Diocese of Funchal

Administrative divisions

The diocese is currently organized into seven Archpriestships, which themselves are subdivided into a total of 96 parishes.

Choice of Patron Saint

St. James the Less was chosen as Patron Saint 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."

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.

Municipality of Funchal

Higher Education

• Superior School for Nursing José de Cluny

Religious Education

• Theological School of Funchal

Schools and High Schools

• Arendrup School
• Complementary School of Til (APEL)
• Maria Eugénia de Canavial School
• Missionary School of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• Presentation of Mary School
• Prince Henry, The Navigator School
• Princess Maria-Amélia School
• Saint John of the Brook School
• Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face School
• Salesian School

Other Municipalities

Schools and High Schools

• Saint Francis of Sales School - Calheta
• Saint Ana School - Machico
• Holy Family School - Santana
• Our Lady of the Conception School - Porto Santo Island
• Saint Constable School - Santa Cruz
• Saint Francis of Sales School - Santa Cruz

Culture

Sacred Art Museum of Funchal

The Sacred Art Museum of Funchal, run by the diocese is housed in the former Episcopal Palace, founded by D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos in 1594. The building was designed by Jerónimo Jorge, Master of Royal Works, who worked in the conception and design of defenses of the city of Funchal. From the primitive building, a section still survives, on the current square of the Municipality and Rua do Bispo. Mannerist sobriety is clearly visible in the northern arch or in the Chapel of Saint Louis of Toulosa, which has an inscription on the façade with the name of its founder, D. Luís de Figueiredo Lemos and dated 1600. D. António Teles da Silva, Bishop of Funchal, carried out new improvement works, between 1675-1682.

With the visit of the Ajuda Palace's Curator Manuel Cayola Zagallo, the diocese became more and more aware of the importance of the Flemish Art collection it owned and that was spread throughout the churches and chapels of its territory. With the unequivocal support from the diocese and the public entities of the time, the identified works were sent to be restore in Lisbon.

After important conservation and restoration work by Fernando Mardel, the paintings were exhibited in Lisbon at the National Museum of Ancient Art in 1949. They would later integrate the Funchal Museum of Sacred Art, inaugurated in 1955. To this set were added other works, especially of Goldsmithing, Ecclesiastic Garments and Sculpture, mostly from Portuguese workshops, which were, in many cases out of worship and in poor condition, in many churches of the diocese, and which became part of the Museum's collections. The Museum's collection include works attributed to painter such as Gerard David, Dieric Bouts, Joos Van Cleve, Jan Provoost and Pieter de Coeck Van Aelst.

Madeira Organ Festival

Together with the Regional Government of Madeira the diocese promotes, by allowing its churches to act as concert venues, for the island's Organ Festival. This festival is usually organized in a set of twelve concerts, headlined by nationally and internationally renowned Master Organ players.

Media

The diocese of Funchal runs a radio station (PEF – Posto Emissor de Rádio Difusão do Funchal), that broadcasts the news from Rádio Renascença, and an online newspaper (Jornal da Madeira).

List of Bishops of Funchal

Bishops 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), appointed Bishop of Faro {Algarve} :7. D. Luís (I) de Figueiredo e Lemos (1585–1608) :8. D. Frei Lourenço de Távora (1610–1617), appointed Bishop of Elvas :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), appointed Bishop of Porto :14. D. José (I) de Sousa Castelo Branco (1698–1725) :15. D. Frei Manuel (I) Coutinho (1725–1741), appointed Bishop of Lamego :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), appointed Bishop of Elvas :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), appointed Bishop of Beija :23. D. Manuel (II) Martins Manso (1849–1858), appointed Bishop of Guarda :24. D. Patrício Xavier de Moura (1859–1872) :25. D. Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1872–1874), appointed Archbishop of Goa, India :26. D. Manuel (III) Agostinho Barreto (1876–1911) :27. D. António (II) Manuel Pereira Ribeiro (1914–1957) :28. D. Frei David de Sousa, OFM (1957–1965), appointed Archbishop of Évora :29. D. João (III) António da Silva Saraiva (1965–1972), appointed Bishop of Coimbra :30. D. Francisco (II) Antunes Santana (1974–1982) :31. D. Teodoro de Faria (1982–2007) :32. D. António (III) José Cavaco Carrilho (2007–2019) :33. D. Nuno Brás da Silva Martins (2019–present)

Other affiliated bishops

Coadjutor bishop

• Aires de Ornelas de Vasconcelos (1871-1872)

Auxiliary bishop

• Manuel de Jesus Pereira (1948-1953), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Coimbra

Other priests of this diocese who became Cardinals

• António Mendes Bello, appointed Archbishop (personal title), Auxiliary of Lisbon in 1884; future Cardinal
• Teodosio Clemente de Gouveia, appointed Prelate of Mozambique in 1936; future Cardinal
• José Tolentino de Mendonça, appointed Archbishop in 2018 (Cardinal in 2019)

Coat of Arms

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

References

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags, and the template below

References

1. [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dfunc.html#stats www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Statistics – Diocese of Funchal]
2. (2019-01-12). "Madeira: Diocese do Funchal, que já foi a maior do mundo, tem mais de 500 anos".
3. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10707a.htm Original Catholic Encyclopedia – Vicariate Apostolic of Natal]
4. [http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/05/17/0353/00787.html#Nomina di Membro del Pontificio Consiglio per i Laici]
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8. "Santa Maria Maior Mother Church".
9. (23 October 2019). "Anuário Diocesano 2019-2020".
10. "Madeira Cultura - Museus - Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal".
11. "Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal".
12. "Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal".
13. "Informações Úteis - 10º Festival de Orgão da Madeira".
14. "Madeira Organ Festival".
15. (2019-03-23). "O brasão da Diocese do Funchal. O livro... - Diocese do Funchal {{!}} Facebook".
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18. (2019-05-09). "Diocese :: Diocese do Funchal".
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20. (2019-02-21). "Carta Aberta a S.E.R. D. Nuno, Bispo do Funchal".
21. and