LISBON, PATRIARCHATE OF. - In Portugal. It has an area of 15,000 sq km with 1,621,500 inhabitants, of whom 1,297,000 are Catholics. It has 324 parishes, 348 diocesan priests and 92 regular priests, 1 seminary, 29 male religious communities and 73 female ones (1950).
The first historical records we have of the bishop of L. date from the 4th century. It is known that in 357 Potamius, bishop of L., unjustly accused of Arianism, took part in the Council of Sirmium together with Hosius, bishop of Cordoba. The names of other bishops are also known, but only from their attendance at councils, and thus their entire succession cannot be reconstructed. In 1121 Callixtus II granted to the cathedral of Compostela the metropolitan rights of Merida; thus the archbishop of Compostela also had the diocese of L. as a suffragan. This caused disputes between Braga and Compostela that ended in 1199 with the bull In causa duorum of Innocent III, which placed L. and Evora once again under the metropolitan jurisdiction of Compostela. As soon as Alfonso Henriques, first king of Portugal, conquered L. from the Saracens, he sought to re-establish the ancient episcopal see. In the time of John I, king of Portugal, the diocese of L. was made an archdiocese by Boniface IX, with the bull In eminentissimae dignitatis of 10 Nov. 1394, having as suffragans the dioceses of Evora, Lamego, Guarda and Silves. The first archbishop was D. João Anes, already bishop since 1383. When Evora, in 1540, was made an archdiocese, the archbishop of L. lost Evora and Silves. But in 1545 and 1549 the new dioceses of Leiria and Portalegre were created, still suffragans of L. The dioceses of Angra, Cape Verde, S. Tomé, Bahia (Brazil) and Congo (Angola) were also suffragans of L.
During the rule of John V, the cathedral of L. received many prerogatives from the Holy See. Thus Clement XI, with the bull Apostolatus ministerio of 1 March 1710, erected the royal chapel as a collegiate church, under the title of St. Thomas, with 6 dignities, 18 canons, 12 beneficed clergy and other missionaries appointed by the king. The same Pontiff, with the bull In supremo apostolatus solio of 7 Nov. 1716, elevated the collegiate church of St. Thomas, seated in the royal chapel, to the dignity of patriarchal church and basilica, until a patriarchal church and basilica should be built. By decree of 12 Feb. 1717 John V granted the patriarch of L. all the honours that in the Kingdom were held by the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and by decree of 1 Apr. 1719 he donated to the patriarch of L. and his successors an annual pension of 220 gold marks.
In 1717 Clement XI granted the Chapter of the patriarchal church further privileges. Even earlier John V had granted them all the honours and prerogatives that in the Kingdom were held by bishops. The same Pontiff also divided the diocese in two, to the east the archiepiscopal church and to the west the patriarchate, a division to which the civil division of the city made by King John V also corresponded, which gave rise to many disputes. Thus it was debated whether the solemnity of the Forty Hours should be held in the archiepiscopal church, etc. Clement XI ratified this division with the bull Gregis dominici cura (3 Jan. 1718). This Pontiff granted the patriarch of L. the faculty of consecrating kings (bull Sacrosancti apostolatus of 20 Sept. 1720), a faculty that had previously been granted to the archbishop of Braga by Eugene IV. Clement XII, with the bull Circunspecta Sedis Apostolicae (8 March 1737), granted John V the right of patronage over the Eastern Church. He also arranged that the patriarch of L. be elected cardinal in the Consistory immediately following his election.
The eastern archbishopric was suppressed by Benedict XIV with the bull Salvatoris Nostri Mater of 13 Dec. 1740, thus putting an end to not a few unpleasant disputes. Immediately after the execution of the bull, the King also suppressed the civil division of the city.
Clement XI, at the request of the patriarch seconded by the King, permitted that the vicar general be an archbishop, « pro hac vice tantum et dummodo huiusmodi concessio non transeat in exemplum ». Despite this clause, from then on all vicars general held the title of archbishops of Lacedaemonia, a title that in the 19th century was changed to that of Mytilene.
Bibliography4 works
Carmo da Silva