Catholic Church in Portugal | |
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Portuguese: Igreja Católica em Portugal | |
Type | National polity |
Classification | Catholic |
Orientation | Latin |
Scripture | Bible |
Theology | Catholic theology |
Governance | Episcopal Conference of Portugal |
Pope | Francis |
Primate | Jorge Ortiga |
Patriarch of Lisbon | Manuel III |
Apostolic Nuncio | Ivo Scapolo |
Region | Portugal |
Language | Portuguese, Latin |
Headquarters | Lisbon Cathedral |
Founder | St. Peter of Rates |
Origin | 44 A.D. Lusitania, Roman Empire |
Official website | Episcopal Conference of Portugal |
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Overview |
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The Portuguese Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Portugal, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Portuguese Episcopal Conference. The Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian organisation. It is Portugal's largest religion and its former state religion, and has existed in the territory since the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Roman Empire.
There are an estimated nine million baptised Catholics in Portugal (84% of the population) in twenty dioceses, served by 2789 priests. Although a large number wish to be baptized, married in the church, and receive last rites, only 19% of the national population attend Mass and take the sacraments regularly.
In 2010, the average age of priests was 62. [1] In 2012 88% of the Portuguese population considered themselves Catholic in a commissioned survey of religious attitudes sponsored by a Christian organization. [2]
Western Christianity was introduced to the province of Lusitania, what is now Portugal under the Roman Empire in the first half of the first millennium AD. The present-day Portuguese state was founded in 1139 by King Afonso Henriques during the Reconquista , in which the Christian kingdoms of the northern Iberian Peninsula reconquered the South from the Cordoba Caliphate of the Sunni Muslim Moors. Crusaders from other Catholic realms aided the reconquest, which Portugal finished in 1249 with the conquest of Algarve.
After the Fall of Constantinople to the Sunni Caliphate of Ottoman Turks, Portuguese discoveries in the Age of Exploration, would lead to the establishment of the Portuguese Empire from the early 15th century onwards, spreading Catholicism to Portuguese colonies in Ceuta on the Barbary coast of North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the East Indies in Asia, and South America. The Lusophone countries of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste all have Catholic majorities as a result. [3] The Primate of the East Indies based in the Portuguese Goa of early-modern India was part of the Portuguese Empire in the East, and a significant Latin Christian minority remains in the Indian subcontinent, the most prominent of which are Goan Catholics. [4] Bombay East Indian Christians, Mangalorean Christians and Latin Christians of Malabar are also among the lesser-known New Christian converts in the Eastern hemisphere.
In 1910, the Portuguese Republic abolished the policy of having the Latin Church as the state religion, [5] in favour of secularism. However, the right-wing Salazar regime from 1932 to 1974 re-established Catholicism as the state religion, which had repercussions such as the Annexation of Goa and Damaon, after which the system was subsequently disestablished along with the regime. [6]
In 2021 the Portuguese Catholic Bishops' Conference established an independent committee for the investigation of any sexual abuse of minors within the Portuguese church, the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Catholic Church in Portugal began its work in January 2022 and issued its final report in February 2023. [7] [8] The commission was led by child psychologist Pedro Strecht who headed a 'multidisciplinary and gender-balanced' investigative panel which sought participation from members of the public who had experienced abuse in institutions run by the Church, such as parishes, schools, orphanages or hospitals, or who had otherwise been abused at the hands of a minister or employee of the Church. [9] The commission received 564 testimonies, of which it held 512 to be verified, relating to incidents of abuse which occurred between 1950 and the commission's establishment in 2021. [9] [10] From these testimonies the Commission identified that around 77% of alleged perpetrators were priests with 57% of victims as males, most of whom aged between 10 and 14. [11] Commission president Strecht extrapolated that the figure of victims likely stood at around 5000 individuals, and further proposed that as many 100 priests in active ministry as of February 2023 had been credibly accused of abuse. He stated that the commission would submit the names of these priests to the Church and public prosecutor in due course. [12] Following the report's publication, 25 serving priests have been reported to the office of public prosecutions. [13]
The president of the Portuguese Catholic Bishops' Conference, Josè Ornelas, responded to the report's publication with words of apology and confirmed the Portuguese bishops' intention to implement the report's recommendations. [13]
Within Portugal, the hierarchy consists of archbishops and bishops. At the top of the hierarchy is the archbishop who is known as the Patriarch of Lisbon. The remainder of the dioceses of Portugal, each headed by a bishop, includes:
Portugal is the location of one of the major Catholic shrines and Marian pilgrimage sites, at Fátima, honouring Our Lady of Fátima.
The northern city of Braga is an important Catholic centre. A Portuguese saying which lists characteristics of different cities states that "Coimbra studies, Braga prays, Lisbon shows off and Porto works". [14] Besides the Cathedral of Braga, it also has the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sameiro.
One of the routes on the Way of St. James, a major Catholic pilgrimage to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain, is the Portuguese route (Portuguese : Caminho Português), starting from Lisbon Cathedral and spanning 610 km. Among those who have taken it was Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, who was canonized, in the 14th century. [15]
Two popes were born in what is now Portugal, though only the second one was ever a subject of a country by that name. Damasus I was born in what is now Portugal in 306. His reign as pope from 366 to 384 saw the Scriptures translated to Latin. He is honoured as a saint, with his feast celebrated on December 11. [16]
Pedro Julião, born in Lisbon around 1215, led the church as Pope John XXI from 1276 to 1277.
Pope Damasus I, also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture. He spoke out against major heresies, thus solidifying the faith of the Catholic Church, and encouraged production of the Vulgate Bible with his support for Jerome. He helped reconcile the relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Antioch, and encouraged the veneration of martyrs.
There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up. The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s. Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.
The French Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in France is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. Established in the 2nd century in unbroken communion with the bishop of Rome, it was sometimes called the "eldest daughter of the church".
The Archdiocese of Denver is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Colorado in the United States.
The Diocese of Raleigh is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church that covers eastern North Carolina in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of Atlanta.
The Diocese of Oakland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco.
The Diocese of Stockton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Central Valley and Mother Lode region of California in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco
The Diocese of Providence is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872.
The Diocese of Albany is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory in eastern New York in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.
The Diocese of Paterson is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern New Jersey. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Newark.
The Diocese of Biloxi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church that encompasses 17 counties in southern Mississippi in the United States. The diocese was erected on March 1, 1977, when it was split from the Diocese of Jackson. The Diocese of Biloxi is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mobile, though for its first three years the diocese was in the province of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Portugal, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.
The Diocese of Camden s is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the South Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem.
The Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The mother church of the diocese is the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona.
The Diocese of Portland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church for the entire state of Maine in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sameiro or Sanctuary of Sameiro is a sanctuary and Marian shrine in Espinho, near the city of Braga, Portugal.
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The Sanctuary of Fátima, officially titled Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima located in Fátima, in the municipality of Ourém, in Portugal. It consists of a group of Catholic religious buildings and structures with the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary as the main building.
World Youth Day 2023 was the 2023 installment of World Youth Day, a recurring Catholic festival. The 2023 event was held in Lisbon, Portugal, which was announced at World Youth Day 2019 in Panama City, Panama.
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