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:
  1. Braz Neto, OFM
  2. João Parvi
  3. Sede vacante
  4. Francisco de la Cruz, OSA
  5. Bartolomeu Leitão
  6. Pedro Brandão, OCarm
  7. Luis Pereira de Miranda
  8. Sebastião de Ascensão, OP
  9. Manuel Afonso de Guerra
  10. Lorenzo Garro
  11. Sede vacante
  12. Fabio dos Reis Fernandes, OCarm
  13. Antonio de São Dionysio, OFM
  14. Victorino do Porto, OFM
  15. Francisco a São Agostinho, TOR
  16. José a Santa Maria de Jesus Azevedo Leal, OFM
  17. João de Faro, OFM
  18. João de Moreira, OFM
  19. Sede vacante
  20. Pedro Jacinto Valente, O. do Cristo
  21. Sede vacante
  22. Francisco de São Simão, OFM
  23. Cristoforo a São Boaventura, OFM
  24. Sede vacante
  25. Silvestre Santa Maria, OFM
  26. Sede vacante
  27. Geronimo do Barco, OFM
  28. Sede vacante
  29. Patrício Xavier de Moura, OSA, appointed Bishop of Funchal, Portugal
  30. João Crisóstomo de Amorim Pessoa, OFM Ref., appointed Archbishop of Goa, India
  31. Sede vacante
  32. José Luís Alves Feijó, O.SS.T., appointed Bishop of Bragança e Miranda, Portugal
  33. José Dias Correia de Carvalho, appointed Bishop of Viseu, Portugal
  34. Joaquim Augusto de Barros
  35. António Moutinho
  36. José Alves Martins
  37. Joaquim Rafael Maria d'Assunção Pitinho, OFM
  38. Faustino Moreira dos Santos, CSSp
  39. José Filípe do Carmo Colaço
  40. Paulino do Livramento Évora, CSSp
  41. Arlindo Gomes Furtado, elevated to Cardinal in 2015