Moura (Dom Patrício Xavier de)

In volume XI of his dictionary Portugal Antigo e Moderno, on p. 872, Pinho Leal writes the following about José Joaquim Januário Lapa, 1st Viscount of Vila Nova de Ourém, which we transcribe word for word:

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A remarkable thing happened between the 1st Viscount of Vila Nova de Ourém and Father Patrício de Moura e Brito, a native of Setúbal. When that titled gentleman, before he held his title, was living in Vila Franca, he was playing backgammon with the said priest, who was prior (title of the parish priest) there. The priest declared that he would inflict a codilho on Lapa, who for his part declared the contrary, adding that he would make that prior a bishop if he suffered a codilho at his hands and ever became a minister, though he said it in a tone of pure jest. Time passed, and Lapa, from the modest position he then held as administrator of the Lezírias do Tejo, rose in the social scale through his merits and the fortunes of politics, and became a minister of state. The prior of Vila Franca, following his movements, so to speak, and prompted by a happy presentiment, presented himself to the viscount as soon as he was appointed minister, congratulating him and claiming the fulfilment of the vow. The minister, who at first did not remember the vow, in the end recalled it perfectly, and gave the prior of Vila Franca the mitre of Cape Verde. Blessed codilho!

This account is confirmed by the dean of the Cathedral (the Sé) of Cape Verde, Francisco Ferreira da Silva, who in his book Diocese de Cabo Verde adds the following interesting details.

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Dom Friar Patrício Xavier de Moura was an Augustinian friar of the Graça, and while a brother (freire) of the Order he had been appointed by John VI canon of Bemposta (‘well placed’) and private chaplain to the Infanta Isabel Maria, after the king had heard the magnificent voice with which he was gifted. Being a legitimist, he withdrew to his native town, preaching from the pulpit until he was sent to serve as priest of the parish (freguesia) of Vila Franca de Xira. There he became acquainted with the Viscount of Villa Franca Nova de Ourém, who promised to make him a bishop when he became a minister, a vow that was kept. On leaving for Cape Verde he took with him Dom João de Noronha, already 70 years old, who had been presented as archdeacon, and three servants: Fernandes de Aguiar, who recently died in Cape Verde leaving a fortune of more than 80,000,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis); José Silvestre Teixeira, who did not live long; and José Maria Pinto, who at the age of 18 had been appointed to a canon’s place and remained in Cape Verde until 1880, leaving a respected name as a teacher. Dom Patrício, although more inclined to don the helmet and draw the sword than to put on the mitre and grasp the crosier, was a hard-working and zealous prelate. While he would rebuke in public and with asperity a servant who proposed a toast at a festive dinner without asking leave, and would order a priest who sat down in his presence without due reverence to stand up, he generously praised and rewarded those who did their duty and did not take such liberties. Barely restrained in his reprimands, he saw the dean of the Cathedral only once, for the dean never returned there while this prelate remained in the diocese.’ He established his residence on the island of Fogo, but made frequent and lengthy visits to the islands of Brava and Santiago. He fought battles with the governor-general, chiefly over the appointment of acting parish priests (párocos encomendados, appointed without tenure), and the government in mainland Portugal confirmed the prelate’s right to make such appointments. When a great food crisis struck the archipelago, he gave up in favour of the starving eighteen contos de réis of the mitre’s revenues that were due to him. He administered the bishopric of Cape Verde for about ten years and then, on account of illness, requested his presentation to the See of Funchal.

In July 1858 the prelate Dom Manuel Martins Manso left this diocese for Guarda, to which he had been transferred. On 20 April of the following year Pius IX confirmed the transfer of Dom Patrício Xavier de Moura from the bishopric of Cape Verde to the diocese of Funchal, and he took possession of the office by proxy on 28 May 1859. He arrived in Funchal on the 26th of the following August and made his solemn entry into the Cathedral (Sé Catedral) on the 18th of the next month, September.

Dom Patrício de Moura’s episcopate was not a happy one. The reasons given by the dean Ferreira da Silva – the prelate’s interference in local politics and the special fondness and favours he showed certain priests, to the detriment and disregard of others – raised great difficulties for him and created serious friction, which never entirely faded before his death. Less than a year after his arrival in the diocese, a 70-page pamphlet had already appeared under the title Chronica do Bispado do Funchal nos primeiros seis meses de governo do Snr. D. Patrício Xavier de Moura. It is a veritable indictment of the prelate’s episcopal administration, written with evident partiality and at times even with refined bad faith. Some turbulent members of the cathedral chapter (cabido) and certain dominant figures in local politics waged a spiteful and relentless war on Bishop Dom Patrício, which he bravely withstood despite his advanced age and well-known ailments. Dom Patrício Xavier de Moura was a prelate zealous not only for the integrity of the privileges and prerogatives of the Church, and especially for the observance of canonical discipline, but also for the propagation of Catholic doctrine, for the austere life of his clergy and for the exact fulfilment of ecclesiastical law.

During one of his absences from the island, the prelate appointed the Governing Board of the Bishopric (Junta Governativa do Bispado), to which we have referred elsewhere. By exceeding the powers conferred on it, this board drew the censure of the Holy See and prompted the publication of the pamphlet Breves Reflexões acerca da circular de 26 de Janeiro de 1870 do presidente da Junta Governativa do Bispado do Funchal aos parochos desta diocese.

In 1870 Dom Patrício de Moura asked for a coadjutor (coadjutor) and future successor, and in March 1871 the dean, Dr Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, was appointed titular bishop of Gerasa, with the right of succession to the diocese of Funchal.

Dom Patrício Xavier de Moura died on 19 September 1872 in the city of Lisbon, to which he had retired some years earlier, having handed over the administration of this bishopric to his successor, Dom Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos.