Diocese of Funchal 1Extent and organisation of the diocese
Diocese of Funchal
Original title: Funchal. (Diocese do)
Supplementary article on the Diocese of Funchal, covering only the Madeira archipelago with 50 parishes in four archpriest districts, its creation in 1514, brief status as an archdiocese (1533–1551), its constitutions, patron saint, cathedral and episcopal palaces.
1Extent and organisation of the diocese
To the article on the creation of this diocese (1-363) it should be added that it is the Portuguese ecclesiastical circumscription with the smallest area, covering only the territory of the Madeiran archipelago; the small island of Arguin once also belonged to its jurisdiction. It comprises 50 parishes, which correspond exactly to the 50 civil parishes into which the district is divided. For the purposes of ecclesiastical administration these parishes are grouped into four archpriest districts (see that entry). Its seat is the city of Funchal, with its Cathedral (Sé Catedral) and cathedral chapter (Cabido), the bishop's palace (Paço Episcopal), the seminary (Seminário), ecclesiastical offices and various religious services, all under the direct supervision of the diocesan prelate, who actually resides in the same city.
The first to exercise ecclesiastical functions here were the Franciscan friars and, after them, the priests sent by the Order of Christ (Ordem de Cristo), to which the archipelago belonged in spiritual matters. The rapid growth of the population led to the creation of a diocese, in which its prelate could freely perform all the acts of worship proper to his episcopal rank. The bull (papal bull) Pro excellenti praeeminentia of 12 June 1514 established the Diocese of Funchal, and on the same date Diogo Pinheiro, one of the highest-ranking members of the Order of Christ, was appointed its first prelate, though he never came to his diocese.
At that time it covered a vast area, extending over most of the islands and lands discovered or conquered by the Portuguese. In 1533 it was raised to the rank of an archbishopric, with the newly created bishoprics of Angra, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Goa as its suffragan dioceses; the archbishopric was abolished in 1551. Bishop Dom Jerónimo Barreto promulgated and published the Constitutions of the Bishopric in 1581, which the prelate Dom Luís de Figueiredo had reprinted in 1601, publishing in the same year the supplementary constitutions (Constituições Extravagantes), which he added to them. The apostle Saint James the Less is the patron saint of the diocese of Funchal; his feast is celebrated every year on the first day of May.
2Cathedral and episcopal palaces
The Cathedral is a fine and spacious church, classified as a National Monument (monumento nacional), and it well deserves an unhurried visit. The pure Gothic of its architectural lines, the slender columns of its naves, the ceiling made of native cedar in the Moorish style and inlaid with ivory, the magnificent chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (Santíssimo Sacramento), the sumptuous processional cross of silver gilt presented by Manuel I, a number of excellent paintings and other exquisite works of art are objects of admiration and esteem for all who visit this church. Its construction began in the last years of the 15th century and it was consecrated in 1516, although the ornamental work and interior decoration of the church as a whole had not yet been entirely completed.
The old bishop's palace, which now houses the lyceum (state secondary school), was built in 1751. Despite its heavy façade, devoid of any architectural refinement, it nevertheless retains a certain air of grandeur and did no discredit to the high rank of its occupants. The present episcopal residence stands in Largo do Ribeiro Real, and its outbuildings house the various ecclesiastical offices.
Closely related to this subject are the articles Archbishopric, Bishops of Funchal, cathedral chapter, Deanery, bishop's palace, Cathedral and Seminary, included in this Elucidário.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 07-
Pope Leo X's bull Pro excellenti praeeminentia created the diocese of Funchal, ending the Order of Christ's spiritual supremacy; the church became a cathedral, D. Diogo Pinheiro was named first bishop and Frei Nuno Cão first dean.
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Bishop D. Duarte, visiting Madeira to perform episcopal functions, consecrated Funchal Cathedral on St Luke's day.
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Funchal was raised by papal bull to an archdiocese with suffragans Angra, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Goa, its cathedral becoming an archiepiscopal see.
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The archdiocese of Funchal was abolished by the bull Super universis.
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Bishop Jerónimo Barreto published the diocesan Constitutions.
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Bishop Luís de Figueiredo had the diocesan Constitutions reprinted in Lisbon by Pedro Craesbeeck together with the Constituições Extravagantes.
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The old episcopal palace of Funchal was built.
Place
Places mentioned · 09
Abroad
- Angra
Portugal. Suffragan see of the Funchal archdiocese from 1533.
Azorean see, made suffragan to Funchal when Funchal became an archdiocese in 1533. D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos was dean and later vicar general there, and Januário Vicente Camacho later governed the diocese.
- Arguin
Mauritania. Small island once under the diocese's jurisdiction.
Arguim is an island off the Saharan coast of West Africa, discovered by the Portuguese around 1443, where a fortress was built from about 1450. It was added to the Funchal diocese in 1551, and the bishops of Funchal long bore the title of bishops of Arguim.
- Bishop's palace
Funchal. Old bishop's palace built in 1751, now housing the lyceum.
The old bishops' palace in Funchal, built in 1751 after the 1748 earthquake and enlarged by Bishop Teles da Silva, with the bishop's São Luís chapel beside it. It housed the seminary and lodged the nuncio. From 1914 it was taken over by the lyceum, forcing the Câmara Eclesiástica to move, and paintings and vestments from it went to the Archaeological Museum.
- Cape Verde
Suffragan see of the Funchal archdiocese.
Cape Verde is an archipelago and Portuguese colony that served as a place of exile and deportation for Madeirans, including liberals in the 1820s, protesters against the dairy decrees and the 1936 rioters. Lowe visited it in 1864 and 1866. It shares one flowering-plant species with Madeira.
- Funchal
Seat of the diocese.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Funchal Cathedral (the Sé)
Funchal. Gothic cathedral begun in the late 15th century and consecrated in 1516.
The Sé do Funchal is the cathedral of Funchal, in the parish of Sé. It was begun in 1493, became a parish seat in 1508 and a cathedral in 1514. It was the starting point of processions and the place of the vow to São Tiago, and bishops are buried there.
- Goa
India. Suffragan see of the Funchal archdiocese.
Goa, the seat of Portuguese government in India, was reached by the navigators João de Abreu in 1513 and António de Abreu in 1527. The Elucidário records that its diocese was made suffragan to the archdiocese of Funchal, and that Jaime Moniz represented it as a deputy.
- Largo do Ribeiro Real
Funchal. Site of the current episcopal residence and church offices.
Largo do Ribeiro Real is a square in Funchal and the site of the later, definitive episcopal palace. The Camara Eclesiastica was installed in this new Paço Episcopal in 1918, and the square houses the bishop's residence and the church offices.
- São Tomé
São Tomé and Príncipe. Suffragan see of the Funchal archdiocese.
São Tomé is an island abroad whose diocese was made suffragan to the see of Funchal. Tristão Vaz was exiled there, Dr José Júlio Rodrigues visited it in 1885 to study quinine, Dr Júlio Augusto Henriques made a scientific voyage there, and Dr Fernando Tolentino da Costa worked there as a physician.
People
People mentioned · 05- D. Diogo Pinheirod. 1526
Senior member of the Order of Christ named first bishop of Funchal in 1514, who never came to the diocese.
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Priest and author of a pamphlet on Funchal Cathedral cited as further reading.
- Jerónimo Barreto1543–1589
Bishop of Funchal who promulgated the diocesan Constitutions in 1581.
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Bishop of Funchal who reprinted the Constitutions and published the Constituições Extravagantes in 1601.
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King of Portugal who gave the cathedral its gilded silver processional cross.