Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro

Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro Archidioecesis Sancti Sebastiani Fluminis Ianuarii
Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian
Location
Country	Brazil
Ecclesiastical province	Province of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro
Population - Catholics	3,556,095 (60.7%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	July 19, 1575
Cathedral	Rio de Janeiro Cathedral
Patron saint	Saint Sebastian (principal) and Saint Anne (secondary)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Orani João Tempesta O. Cist.
Auxiliary Bishops	Paulo César Costa, Pedro Cunha Cruz, Antônio Augusto Dias Duarte, Nelson Francelino Ferreira, Luiz Henrique da Silva Brito, Roque Costa Souza
Website
arquidiocese.org.br

Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro

The Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Sebastiani Fluminis Ianuarii, lit. "Archdiocese of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro") in Brazil was established as a territorial prelature on July 19, 1575. It was elevated to the status of a diocese on November 16, 1676. It was later elevated to a metropolitan see on April 27, 1892. On May 6, 2003, the territorial abbey of Nossa Senhora do Monserrate do Rio de Janeiro lost its territorial rank and was added to the archdiocese. The current Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro is Orani João Tempesta O. Cist. since 2009. Cardinal Eusébio Scheid S.C.I. is Archbishop Emeritus.

Territorial Prelates, Bishops and Metropolitan Archbishops of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro since 1575

Territorial Prelates

• Bartolomeu Simões Pereira (11 May 1577 Appointed – 1591 Resigned)
• João da Costa (1603 Appointed – 1606 Died)
• Bartholomeu Lagarto (1606 Appointed – 1606 Died)
• Mateus da Costa Aborim (1606 Appointed – 1629 Died)
• Máximo Pereira O.S.B. ( 1629 Appointed – 1629 Died)
• Lourenço de Mendonça (22 Jul 1631 Appointed – 1637 Resigned)
• Pedro Homem Albernaz (1639 Appointed – 1643 Died)
• Antonio de Mariz Loureiro (8 Oct 1643 Appointed – 1657 Died)
• Manuel de Sousa e Almada (12 Dec 1658 Appointed – 1671 Died)
• Francisco da Silveira Dias (1671 Appointed – 14 Dec 1671 Resigned)
• Manuel Pessoa de Figueiredo (15 Feb 1673 Appointed – 28 Aug 1673 Died)

Bishops

• Manoel Pereira O.P. (22 Nov 1676 Appointed – 1680 Resigned. Manoel Pereira, O.P. was consecrated a Bishop due to his appointment as Bishop of Rio de Janeiro but he resigned the office in 1680 without ever having taken canonical possession of his See).
• José de Barros Alarcão (19 Aug 1680 Appointed – 6 Apr 1700 Died. Bishop Alarcão is counted as the first Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, because his predecessor never travelled to the city and never took canonical possession of the newly erected See; Bishop Alarcão was therefore the first Bishop of Rio to be actually installed in the office).
• Francisco de São Jerõnimo de Andrade S.C.I. (8 Aug 1701 Appointed – 7 Mar 1721 Died)
• Antônio de Guadalupe O.F.M. (21 Feb 1725 Appointed – 31 Aug 1740 Died)
• João da Cruz Salgado de Castilho O.C.D. (19 Dec 1740 Appointed – 4 Dec 1745 Resigned)
• Antônio de Nossa Senhora do Desterro Malheiro O.S.B. (15 Dec 1745 Appointed – 5 Dec 1773 Died)
• José Joaquim Justiniano Mascarenhas Castello Branco (20 Dec 1773 Appointed – 28 Jan 1805 Died)
• José Caetano da Silva Coutinho (26 Aug 1806 Appointed – 27 Jan 1833 Died. From 1808 to 1822 he also served as Major Chaplain of the Royal Chapel, providing religious services to the Portuguese Royal Court then established in Rio de Janeiro. After the independence of Brazil, the Royal Chapel became the Imperial Chapel, continuing under the leadership of the Bishop of Rio de Janeiro. Accordingly, Bishop José Caetano da Silva Coutinho became Major Chaplain of the Imperial Chapel, serving the Brazilian Imperial Family, from 1822 until his death. Due to holding those royal and imperal offices he was known as Bishop Major Chaplain). He was also elected for life as a Senator of the Empire of Brazil in 1826, and, chosen by his peers, served as the President of the Senate from 1827 to 1832.
• Manoel de Monte Rodrigues de Araújo, later Count of Irajá (23 Dec 1839 Appointed – 11 Jun 1863 Died. Also served ex officio as Major Chaplain of the Imperial Chapel during his tenure as Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, and was accordingly known as The Bishop Major Chaplain). Created Count of Irajá in the Peerage of the Empire of Brazil in 1845.
• Pedro Maria de Lacerda, later Count of Santa Fé (24 Sep 1868 Appointed – 12 Nov 1890 Died. Also served as Major Chaplain of the Imperial Chapel from the start of his tenure as Bishop of Rio de Janeiro until the abolition of the Monarchy in 1889, holding during that period the title of Bishop Major Chaplain). Created Count of Santa Fé in the Peerage of the Empire of Brazil in 1888.
• José Pereira da Silva Barros, Count of São Agostinho (25 Jun 1891 Appointed – 1 Sep 1893 Resigned. During his tenure, in 1892, the Diocese was raised to the rank of Metropolitan Archdiocese; however he was not promoted to the rank of Metropolitan Archbishop, and continued leading the particular Church as Bishop, until the acceptance of his resignation on 1 September 1893. Days later, on 12 September 1893, the first Metropolitan Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro was appointed). Bishop José Pereira da Silva Barros had been created Count of São Agostinho in the Peerage of the Empire of Brazil in 1988, before he was named Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, while serving as Bishop of Olinda and Recife. He was appointed Titular Archbishop after his resignation from the See of Rio de Janeiro.

Metropolitan Archbishops

Since Pope St. Pius X appointed the second Metropolitan Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church in 1905, all subsequent Archbishops were either elevated to the Cardinalate during their service in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, or were transferred to that Metropolitan See when already members of the College of Cardinals.

• João Fernando Santiago Esberrard (12 Sep 1893 Appointed – 22 Jan 1897 Died)
• Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti (24 Aug 1897 Appointed – 18 Apr 1930 Died. Created Cardinal in 1905)
• Sebastião Leme da Silveira Cintra (18 Apr 1930 Succeeded – 17 Oct 1942 Died. Created Cardinal in 1930)
• Jaime de Barros Câmara (3 Jul 1943 Appointed – 18 Feb 1971 Died. Created Cardinal in 1946).
• Eugênio de Araújo Sales (13 Mar 1971 Appointed – 25 Jul 2001 Retired. He had been created Cardinal in 1969).
• Eusébio Scheid S.C.I. (25 Jul 2001 Appointed – 27 Feb 2009 Retired. Created Cardinal in 2003).
• Orani João Tempesta O. Cist. (27 Feb 2009 Appointed – Incumbent. Created Cardinal in 2014).

Current Suffragan Dioceses

• Diocese of Barra do Piraí-Volta Redonda
• Diocese of Duque de Caxias
• Diocese of Itaguaí
• Diocese of Nova Iguaçu
• Diocese of Valença

Coordinates: 22°54′00″S 43°11′00″W / 22.9000°S 43.1833°W