Patriarch of the East Indies
Encyclopedia
The Titular Patriarch of the East Indies in the Catholic
hierarchy
is the title of the Archbishop of Goa and Damão in India
; another title of his is that of the Primate
of the East. Unlike the patriarch
s of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui juris, the Patriarch of the East Indies enjoys a purely honorary title and is fully subject to the pope
. He has a place within the Latin Rite similar to the Patriarchs of Venice
and Lisbon
. The Patriarch of the East Indies is the diocesan ordinary
of the Archdiocese of Goa e Damão and the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Goa e Damão.
This title of Patriarch of the East Indies was conferred upon the Archbishop of Goa as part of a settlement between the Holy See
and the Portuguese
government concerning the link between religious and political aspects of Portuguese colonial expansion
. Later, with Portugal's decline as a colonial power, a difficult period resulted that was resolved by a further agreement by which Portugal renounced its rights of patronage (Padroado
). In this way the episcopal appointments in actual or former Portuguese colonial territory reverted to the common provisions of ecclesiastical law, and hence to the unhampered decisions of the Holy See. As regards India, this meant that the Holy See was free to make appointments to the episcopate there that took account of the growth of British expansion
.
The later isolation of the territory of Goa
as a Portuguese colonial enclave in India prior to the invasion of Indian forces in 1961 accounts for the fact that the Archbishop of Goa for a number of decades was immediately subject to the Holy See and had no suffragan dioceses. In the more distant past the archbishop did have a true metropolitan
jurisdiction, with suffragan dioceses. These, however, were progressively stripped away or suppressed, the final suffragan diocese in India was the Diocese of Damão, which was merged with the Archdiocese of Goa on May 1, 1928 to form the present archdiocese. The archdiocese formally lost its status as a metropolitan see on January 1, 1975, when the Dioceses of Macau and Dili were transferred from the province of Goa. On 25 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI
elevated it again to a metropolitan archdiocese, with the Diocese of Sindhudurg
as its suffragan.
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
is the title of the Archbishop of Goa and Damão in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; another title of his is that of the Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
of the East. Unlike the patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
s of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui juris, the Patriarch of the East Indies enjoys a purely honorary title and is fully subject to the pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. He has a place within the Latin Rite similar to the Patriarchs of Venice
Patriarch of Venice
The Patriarch of Venice is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few Patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church...
and Lisbon
Patriarch of Lisbon
The Patriarch of Lisbon is an honorary title possessed by the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lisbon.The first patriarch of Lisbon was D. Tomás de Almeida, who was appointed in 1716 by Pope Clement XI...
. The Patriarch of the East Indies is the diocesan ordinary
Ordinary
In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
of the Archdiocese of Goa e Damão and the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Goa e Damão.
This title of Patriarch of the East Indies was conferred upon the Archbishop of Goa as part of a settlement between the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
and the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
government concerning the link between religious and political aspects of Portuguese colonial expansion
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
. Later, with Portugal's decline as a colonial power, a difficult period resulted that was resolved by a further agreement by which Portugal renounced its rights of patronage (Padroado
Padroado
The Padroado , was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Spain and Portugal the administration of the local Churches...
). In this way the episcopal appointments in actual or former Portuguese colonial territory reverted to the common provisions of ecclesiastical law, and hence to the unhampered decisions of the Holy See. As regards India, this meant that the Holy See was free to make appointments to the episcopate there that took account of the growth of British expansion
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
.
The later isolation of the territory of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
as a Portuguese colonial enclave in India prior to the invasion of Indian forces in 1961 accounts for the fact that the Archbishop of Goa for a number of decades was immediately subject to the Holy See and had no suffragan dioceses. In the more distant past the archbishop did have a true metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
jurisdiction, with suffragan dioceses. These, however, were progressively stripped away or suppressed, the final suffragan diocese in India was the Diocese of Damão, which was merged with the Archdiocese of Goa on May 1, 1928 to form the present archdiocese. The archdiocese formally lost its status as a metropolitan see on January 1, 1975, when the Dioceses of Macau and Dili were transferred from the province of Goa. On 25 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
elevated it again to a metropolitan archdiocese, with the Diocese of Sindhudurg
Diocese of Sindhudurg
The Diocese of Sindhudurg in India was created on July 5, 2005, when it was split off from the Diocese of Poona. It was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Bombay until 25 November 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI transferred it to the newly established Metropolitan province of Goa and Damão...
as its suffragan.
Bishops of Goa
- Francisco de Melo (1533)
- João Afonso de Albuquerque (1538-1553)
- vacant (1553-1560)
Archbishops of Goa
- Gaspar de Leão Pereira (1560-1567)
- Jorge Temudo, OP (1568-1571)
- Gaspar de Leão Pereira (1574-1576), restored
- Henrique de Távora e Brito, OP (1578-1581)
- João Vicente da Fonseca, OP (1582-1587)
- Mateus de Medina, OCOrder of Christ (Portugal)The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
(1588-1592) - Aleixo de MenezesAleixo de MenezesAleixo de Menezes was Archbishop of Goa, Archbishop of Braga, Portugal, and Viceroy of Portugal during the Iberian Union.-Biographical sketch:Aleixo was born in 1559. It is known that he joined the Augustinians...
, OSAAugustiniansThe term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
(1595-1609) - Cristóvão de Sá e Lisboa (1613-1622)
- Sebastião de S. Pedro, OSA (1625-1629)
- Manuel Teles de Brito, OP (1633)
- Francisco dos Mártires, OFM (1636-1652)
- vacant (1652-1672)
- Cristóvão da Silveira, OSA (1671-1673)
- António Brandão, OC (1675-1678)
- Manuel de Sousa e Menezes (1681-1684)
- Alberto da Silva, OSA (1685-1688)
- Agostinho da Anunciação, OC (1691-1713)
- Sebastião de Andrade Pessanha (1716-1720)
- Inácio de Santa Teresa, OSA (1721-1740)
- Eugénio de Trigueiros, OSA (1740-1741)
- Lourenço de Santa Maria e Melo, OFM (1741-1750)
- António Taveira da Neiva Brum e Silveira, OSJ (1750-1773)
- Francisco da Assunção e Brito, OSA (1774-1783)
- Manuel de Santa Catarina, OCDDiscalced CarmelitesThe Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers...
(1784-1812) - Manuel de S. Galdino, OFM Rif. (1812-1831)
- José Maria da Silva Torres (1844-1849)
- João Crisóstomo de Amorim Pessoa (1862-1874)
- Aires de Ornelas e VasconcelosAires de Ornelas e VasconcelosAires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Goa.He was born September 18, 1837 in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, a son of Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos Esmeraldo Rolim de Moura and wife Augusta Correia Vasques Salvago de Brito de Olival...
(1875-1879) - António Sebastião Valente (1882-1886)
Patriarchs of the East Indies
- António Sebastião Valente (1886-1908)
- Mateus de Oliveira Xavier (1909-1929)
- Teotónio Emanuel Ribeiro Vieira de Castro (1929-1940)
- José da Costa Nunes (1940-1953)
- José Vieira Alvernaz (1953-1975)
- Raul Nicolau Gonçalves (1978-2004)
- Filipe Neri FerrãoFilipe Neri FerrãoFilipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão is the seventh Roman Catholic Patriarch of the East Indies and thirty-fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, India....
(2004-Present)