Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Cape Verde. It covers the islands of Maio, Santiago, Fogo, and Brava. Its seat is the Pró-catedral Nossa Senhora da Graça in Praia, Santiago.History
The Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde was created on January 31, 1533 as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Funchal by Pope Clement VII. Its seat was Ribeira Grande, on Santiago. Bishop Francisco de la Cruz started construction of a cathedral in Ribeira Grande in 1556. Ribeira Grande went into decline in the 18th century, and the seat was moved to Ribeira Brava on São Nicolau in 1786, where it stayed until 1943. A seminary and an episcopal palace were built there.
Until September 4, 1940 the diocese covered not only the Cape Verde islands, but also Portuguese Guinea on the African mainland. Portuguese Guinea became a Mission sui iuris, the later Roman Catholic Diocese of Bissau. Since November 2003 the Barlavento Islands form the separate Roman Catholic Diocese of Mindelo, and the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde only covers the Sotavento Islands.Bishops
The bishops of the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde:
- Braz Neto, OFM
- João Parvi
- Sede vacante
- Francisco de la Cruz, OSA
- Bartolomeu Leitão
- Pedro Brandão, OCarm
- Luis Pereira de Miranda
- Sebastião de Ascensão, OP
- Manuel Afonso de Guerra
- Lorenzo Garro
- Sede vacante
- Fabio dos Reis Fernandes, OCarm
- Antonio de São Dionysio, OFM
- Victorino do Porto, OFM
- Francisco a São Agostinho, TOR
- José a Santa Maria de Jesus Azevedo Leal, OFM
- João de Faro, OFM
- João de Moreira, OFM
- Sede vacante
- Pedro Jacinto Valente, O. do Cristo
- Sede vacante
- Francisco de São Simão, OFM
- Cristoforo a São Boaventura, OFM
- Sede vacante
- Silvestre Santa Maria, OFM
- Sede vacante
- Geronimo do Barco, OFM
- Sede vacante
- Patrício Xavier de Moura, OSA, appointed Bishop of Funchal, Portugal
- João Crisóstomo de Amorim Pessoa, OFM Ref., appointed Archbishop of Goa, India
- Sede vacante
- José Luís Alves Feijó, O.SS.T., appointed Bishop of Bragança e Miranda, Portugal
- José Dias Correia de Carvalho, appointed Bishop of Viseu, Portugal
- Joaquim Augusto de Barros
- António Moutinho
- José Alves Martins
- Joaquim Rafael Maria d'Assunção Pitinho, OFM
- Faustino Moreira dos Santos, CSSp
- José Filípe do Carmo Colaço
- Paulino do Livramento Évora, CSSp
- Arlindo Gomes Furtado, elevated to Cardinal in 2015