Padroado

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The Padroado (Portuguese for patronage ) was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal to proselytize newly conquered territory by the Portuguese crown. The basis for this was the Bull Ad ea ex quibus (1319), in which the Pope confirmed the Order of Christ as the successor to the Portuguese possession of the repealed Knights Templar and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Crown. Under Heinrich the Navigator , this order developed into an important pillar of his expansion policy.

In a total of 69 papal bulls, the secular and spiritual claim of the Order of Christ to conquer and proselytize non-Christian territories was specified. The bull Romanus Pontifex , which granted Portugal a trade monopoly for the sea route to India, and the bull Inter caetera, in which the ecclesiastical jurisdiction from Cape Bojador to India was transferred to the Order of Christ, should be mentioned with priority .

In the bull Dum fidei constantiam (1514) the rights of the Portuguese crown were extended again. So the king was now allowed to occupy the episcopal seats in the conquered areas, although he was also obliged to proselytize these areas. Through the Bull Inter ceterae or the Treaty of Tordesillas , this regulation not only affected the African and Asian colonies of Portugal, but also the colonies in South America. In the bull Pro excellenti praeeminentia (1514) the jurisdiction of the Order of Christ over the overseas territories was abolished and transferred to the newly established diocese of Funchal on Madeira . In 1534 Funchal was elevated to the status of a metropolitan seat and four newly founded dioceses were subordinate to it. The largest in terms of area and the most significant in terms of ecclesiastical history was the Diocese of Goa , which encompassed the entire territory from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan. However, it was limited to Portuguese property from the outset, which limited the spiritual influence of Portugal to colonies of other European powers.

Ultimately, the padroado was detrimental to the Church's missionary efforts. Due to the very close amalgamation of secular and spiritual power, the mission was less accepted than in the Spanish colonies, in which the church could act far more independently. In addition, the Portuguese colonies were mostly located in more developed regions and were therefore mostly trading stations with limited territory rather than an area-wide colonial empire. The political decline of Portugal after the Aviz dynasty died out in the 16th and 17th centuries also led to difficulties in missionary work.

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  1. ↑ Hubert Jedin (Ed.): Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte , Vol. III / 2, Freiburg 1968, pp. 488f.
  2. ↑ Hubert Jedin (Ed.): Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte , Vol. IV, Freiburg 1967, p. 621ff.