| Diocese of Funchal Dioecesis Funchalensis |
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Façade of the Cathedral |
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| Location | |
| Country | , Portugal |
| Ecclesiastical province | Patriarchate of Lisbon |
| Metropolitan | Patriarchate of Lisbon |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 800 km2 (310 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2006) 282,000[1] 270,000[1] (95.7%) |
| Parishes | 52 |
| Information | |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Assunção) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Benedict XVI |
| Bishop | José Cavaco Carrilho |
| Website | |
| diocesedofunchal.pt | |
The Diocese of Funchal (Latin: Dioecesis Funchalensis) was created originally on January 12, 1514, through the bull Pro excellenti præeminentia of Pope Leo X, following the elevation of Funchal from a village to the status of town (cidade), by King Manuel I of Portugal (royal mandate of August 21, 1508). The new diocese was dependent on (suffragan) the Archdiocese of Lisbon.
Nineteen years later, on January 31, 1533, it was elevated to Archiepiscopal rank, becoming during twenty two years, the largest Metropolitan Archdiocese (territorial) in the world, where it had the following suffragan dioceses: Azores, Brazil, Africa[2] and Goa. The first (and only) Archbishop was D. Martinho of Portugal (with the title of Primate). On July 3, 1551, a restructuring of the dioceses of Portugal and the Portuguese empire, led to the extinction of the Archdiocese of Funchal and its return to status as a diocese. In 1570, Funchal was made a suffragan of Archdiocese of Lisbon (later Patriarchate), as it remains today.
None of the first three bishops appointed ever physically visited to Madeira; only the fourth, Frei Jorge de Lemos, went to take personally the Cathedra of bishop.
Until the 20th century, the bishops of Funchal used the title of Bishops of Madeira, of Porto Santo, of Desertas and of Arguim. The seat of the Diocese of Funchal is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Assunção).
On March 8, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed José Cavaco Carrilho as Bishop of Funchal, until then Auxiliary Bishop of Porto.
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