SÃO LUÍS DE MARANHÃO, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - In the State of Maranhão, in Brazil. It is the metropolis of the ecclesiastical province of the same name, which numbers as suffragans the dioceses of Teresina, Caxias del Nord, Oeiras, Parnaíba, and in addition the prelatures nullius of Bom Jesus do Piauhy, S. José do Grajahú and Pinheiro.
The archdiocese has approximately 20,336 sq km with 800,000 inhabitants, of whom 780,000 are Catholics distributed in 43 parishes, served by 33 diocesan priests and 20 regulars; it has a seminary, 5 male religious communities and 9 female ones. Patron St. Louis of France; feast 25 August.
The city of S. L. is located at 2° 31' 42" S latitude and 44° 16' 42" W longitude of Greenwich, and has about 60,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the State, a commercial and intellectual center. It is a cabotage port used on behalf of its own State and of the neighboring one of Piauí, mainly for the export of cereals, hides and products of the very useful babassú palm.
History. - The coast of Maranhão was perhaps visited by Pizon before Cabral discovered Brazil (v.). In the 16th century the Portuguese attempts to colonize the region by feudal lords repeatedly came to nothing. The French had better fortune, who after some explorations allied themselves with the natives and resolved upon the constitution of Equinoctial France, which was carried out by a strong expedition under the orders of Charles des Vaux and François de Rosilly. With the conquerors came 4 Capuchins, to whom 12 others were later added, who built two churches and a convent, immediately beginning the work of evangelization of the savages. The Portuguese, however, attacked and defeated the invaders at the close of 1614, signing with them an armistice which was then broken with the total expulsion of the French in 1620. From 1624, for topographical reasons, the government of Maranhão was separated from that of Brazil. But soon an ardent struggle of long periods flared up between the Jesuits and the colonists over the slavery of the Indians. In this dispute, which assumed great proportions, the celebrated Jesuit orator and politician Vieira distinguished himself. Maranhão was not exempt from Dutch domination (v. OLINDA E RECIFE), nor did it lack occasions for uprisings, such as that of 1682-85 against the commercial monopoly and that of 1838 for reasons of internal politics (v. CAXIAS DEL MARAGNANO). It is curious that Maranhão did not receive Brazilian independence without difficulty.
The diocese was erected with the bull Super universas of 30 August 1677 as a suffragan of the metropolis of Lisbon, forming part of the ecclesiastical province of Brazil only in 1827. The vast territory of the diocese was subsequently divided up in favor of the new bishoprics of Belem (1719) and the other circumscriptions now subject to it, from when the apostolic constitution Rationi congrui of 10 February 1922 raised the church of S. L. to the rank of metropolitan.
Among the pastors of Maranhão there was no lack of those who came to serious clashes with the civil authorities, those who took part in the Portuguese reaction against the emancipation of Brazil, and those who finally distinguished themselves for their zeal and their virtue. Here is their list: Antonio de Sta Maria (1677, did not take possession); Gregorio dos Anjos (1679-1689); Francisco de Lima (1690); Timoteo do Sacramento (1691-1700); José del Garte (1717-23); Manuel da Cruz (1738); Francisco de Santiago (1747-52); Antonio de S. José (1756-78); Jacinto Carolos da Silveira (1779); José Domenico Jesus (1780); Antonio de Padua e Bellas (1783-90); Joaquim Ferreira de Carvalho (1795-1801); Luiz de Brito Homen (1802-13); Joaquim de N. S. de Nazaré (1820-23); Marcos Antonio de Sousa (1826-42); Carlos de S. José (1844-50); Manuel Joaquim da Silveira (1851-61); Luiz da Conceição Saraiva (1861-76); Antonio Candido de Alvarenga (1878-98); Antonio Xisto Albano (1901-1905); Santino da Silva Coutinho (1906); Francisco de Paula e Silva (1907-18); Helvécio Gomes de Oliveira (1918-22); Otaviano Pereira de Albuquerque (1923-33); Carlos Carmelo de Vasconcellos Mota (1935-1944). The current archbishop is Msgr. G. de Medeiros Delgado.
As buildings of colonial art, the Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, the Governor's Palace and some churches are notable.
Bibliography5 works
Maurilio Cesar de Lima