The Diocese of Porto (Latin: Dioecesis Portugallensis) (Oporto) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal.
Contents
History
The diocese was probably founded in the middle of the sixth century. At the third Council of Toledo (589) the Arian bishop Argiovittus, though he condemned the Arian belief and accepted the Catholic belief, was deposed in favour of bishop Constantinus. In 610 Bishop Argebertus assisted at the Council of Toledo, summoned by King Gundemar to sanction the metropolitan claims of Toledo. Bishop Ansiulfus was present at the Sixth Council of Toledo (638), and Bishop Flavius at the Tenth (656).
Bishop Froaricus was one of eight bishops who attended the provincial council of Braga (675), and the Twelfth (681), Thirteenth (683), and Fifteenth (688) Councils of Toledo. His successor Felix appeared at the Sixteenth Council (693). No other bishop is recorded under the Visigothic monarchy.
Arab occupation
In 716 the Arabs began their invasion and conquest of Portugal, including Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Tuy, Lugo, and Orense. The areas were depopulated. After the Arab invasion Justus seems to have been the first bishop (c. 882). He is only a name. Gomado was probably elected in 872, when King Affonso III won back the city. The names of only four other prelates have been preserved: Froarengus (906), Hermogius (912), Hordonius (attested in 931), and Didacus (Diego) (c. 962?).
Porto fell again into Moorish hands.
Restoration
On the recovery of Porto for Christianity, which was being promoted by the Burgundian Count Henry, son-in-law of King Alfonso VI of Castile and governor of the lands from the Minho River to the banks of the Tagus, priests and prelates were being imported, especially those with connections to Cluny in Burgundy. Hugo (Hugh) became bishop (1114-1136). He had been a Canon of the Cathedral of Compostella, and under the patronage of Bishop Diego Gelmirez, a Cluniac, he was said to have been a co-author of the Historia Compostellana. In 1103-1104 he was sent to Rome on an embassy for the Church of Compostella, and obtained a bull granting numerous privileges, one of which was the right of the Bishop of Compostella to name Cardinals of Compostella. Hugo became a Cardinal. In 1109 he was Archdeacon of Compostella, but at the time of his election to the diocese of Porto and not yet ordained. He was ordained a priest on the day before Passion Sunday, and was consecrated a bishop on 23 March 1113 by Archbishop Mauricio Burdino of Braga, another Cluniac. As Bishop of Porto he secured from Pope Paschal II, by a bull granted on 15 August 1115, exemption of his diocese from the supervisory control of the Archbishop of Braga. He greatly enlarged his diocese and the cathedral patrimony increased by the donations he secured; thus, in 1120, he received from D. Theresa jurisdiction over the City of Porto with all the rents and dues thereof. Bishop Hugo was present at the Council of Compostella in 1114, the Council of Sagunto in 1121 (under the presidency of Cardinal Boso, the papal Legate), and the Synod of Compostella in 1122.
John Peculiar was promoted to Braga (1138), his nephew, Pedro Rabaldis, succeeding at Porto. Next came D. Pedro Pitões (1145 to 1152 or 1155), D. Pedro Sénior (d. 1172), and D. Fernão Martins (d. 1185). Martinho Pires instituted a chapter and was promoted to Braga in 1189 or 1190. Martinho Rodrigues ruled from 1191 to 1235. He quarreled with the chapter over their share of the rents of the see. Later on, fresh disagreements arose in which King Sancho I intervened against the bishop, who was deprived of his goods and had to flee, but was restored by the king when Innocent III espoused the bishop's cause. Another quarrel soon arouse between prelate and king, and the bishop was imprisoned; but he escaped and fled to Rome, and in 1209 the king, feeling the approach of death, made peace with him. His successor, Pedro Salvadores, figured prominently in the questions between the clergy and King Sancho II, who refused to ecclesiastics the right of purchasing or inheriting land. Portugal fell into anarchy, in which the clergy's rights were violated and their persons outraged, though they themselves were not guiltless. Finally, Pope Innocent IV committed the reform of abuses to Afonso III, brother of Sancho II who lost his crown.
Cathedral
The Porto Cathedral was dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. It had a Chapter, a corporation composed of eight dignities (not dignitaries) and twelve Canons. The dignities included: the Dean, the Cantor, the Master of the Schola, the Theologus and the Archdeacon of Porto. On 9 September 1455 Bishop Luis Pires (1453-1464) instituted a second Archdeacon, the Archdeacon of Oliveira.
Bishops
Partial list of the bishops of Porto. Bishops who were later elevated to the rank of cardinal are shown in bold typeface.