Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda e Recife

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife (Archidioecesis Metropolitae Olindensis et Recifensis) is a Latin metropolitan archdiocese in northeast Brazil's Pernambuco state.

Special churches

 * Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is a World Heritage Site (Minor): Catedral Metropolitana São Salvador do Mundo, in Olinda
 * Its Co-Cathedral is São Pedro dos Clérigos, dedicated to Saint Peter of Clerics, in Recife
 * Further it has Minor Basilicas :
 * Basílica Abacial do Mosteiro de São Bento de Olinda, in Olinda
 * Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, in Recife
 * Basílica Nossa Senhora de Penha, Pernambuco
 * Basílica Sagrado Coração de Jesus, Recife
 * Basílica Santuário de Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora, in Jaboatão dos Guararapes
 * Historic churches
 * Capela Dourada, Recife
 * Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição dos Militares, Recife
 * Igreja dos Santos Cosme e Damião, Igarassu
 * Igreja e Convento de Santo Antônio, Igarassu

History

 * Established on 17 July 1614 as Territorial Prelature of Pernambuco, on territory split off from the then Diocese of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos
 * Promoted on 11 November 1676 and renamed after its see as Diocese of Olinda
 * Lost territories repeatedly: on 1677.08.30 to establish Diocese of São Luís do Maranhão, on 1854.06.06 to establish Diocese of Ceará, on 1892.04.27 to establish Diocese of Paraiba and on 1900.07.02 to establish Diocese of Alagôas
 * Promoted on 5 December 1910 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda, having lost territory to establish the Diocese of Floresta, its suffragan
 * Renamed on 26 July 1918 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Olinda e Recife, reflecting its double see
 * Lost territories repeatedly again : on 1918.08.02 to establish Diocese of Garanhuns and Diocese of Nazaré, on 1948.08.07 to establish Diocese of Caruaru, and on 1962.01.13 to establish Diocese of Palmares.

Ecclesiastical province
Its Suffragan sees are :
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Afogados da Ingazeira
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Caruaru
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Floresta, a daughter
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Garanhuns, a daughter
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Nazaré, a daughter
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmares, its junior daughter
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesqueira
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Petrolina
 * Roman Catholic Diocese of Salgueiro

Statistics
As per 2014, it pastorally served 3,804,000 Catholics (94.5% of 4,024,000 total) on 4,058 km² in 114 parishes and 689 missions with 277 priests (122 diocesan, 155 religious), 32 deacons, 1,143 lay religious (251 brothers, 892 sisters) with 63 seminarians.

Bishops
(all Roman Rite)

Episcopal ordinaries

 * Suffragan Bishops of Olinda
 * Estevão Brioso de Figueiredo (born Portugal) (16 Nov 1676 - 27 Sep 1683), next Bishop of Funchal (Madeira, Portugal (27 Sep 1683 – death 1689.05.20)
 * João Duarte do Sacramento not possessed (1685 - death 1685)
 * Matias de Figueiredo e Mello (12 May 1687 - death 18 July 1694 )
 * Francisco de Lima (Lemos) (born Portugal) (22 August 1695 - death 29 April 1704), previously Bishop of São Luís do Maranhão (Brazil) (1691.12.19 – 22 August 1695)
 * Manuel Alvares da Costa (born Portugal) (7 June 1706 - 20 Jan 1721), next Bishop of Angra (Portugal) (1721.01.20 – death 1733.01.10)
 * José de Fialho (born Portugal) (21 Feb 1725 - 3 Sep 1738), next Metropolitan Archbishop of (São Salvador da) Bahia (Brazil) (1738.09.03 – 1741.01.02), Archbishop-Bishop of Guarda (Portugal) (1741.01.02 – 1741.03.18)
 * Luiz de Santa Teresa da Cruz Salgado de Castilho (born Portugal) (3 Sep 1738 - death 17 Nov 1757)
 * Francisco Xavier Aranha (17 Nov 1757 - death 5 Oct 1771), previously Titular Bishop of Thermopylæ (1754.02.11 – 1757.11.17) as Coadjutor Bishop of Olinda (1754.02.11 – 1757.11.17)
 * Francisco da Assumpção e Brito (born Portugal) (8 March 1773 - 20 Dec 1773), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Goa (then Portuguese India) (1773.12.20 – retired 1783.06.23), died 1808
 * Tomaz da Encarnação da Costa e Lima (18 April 1774 - died 14 Jan 1784)
 * Diego de Jesus Jardim (14 Feb 1785 - 21 Feb 1794), next Bishop of Elvas (Portugal) (1794.02.21 – death 1796.05.30)
 * José Joaquim da Cunha Azeredo Coutinho (12 Sep 1794 - 6 Oct 1806), next Bishop of Elvas (Portugal) (1806.10.06 – death 1821.09.12)
 * José Maria de Araújo (born Portugal) (6 Oct 1806 - death 21 Sep 1809)
 * Antônio de São José Bastos (15 March 1815 - death 19 July 1819)
 * ? Tomaz de Noronha e Brito (1828 – 1829) (23 June 1828 - death 6 March 1829)
 * ? Tomas Manoel de Noronha e Britto (born Portugal) (23 June 1828 - death 6 March 1829)
 * João da Purificação Marques Perdigão (28 Feb 1831 - retired 30 April 1864), previously Bishop of Cochin (India) (1819.12.17 – 1828.06.23); died 1874
 * BIOS to ELABORATE


 * Francisco Cardoso Aires (20 Dec 1867 - 12 May 1870)
 * Vital Maria Gonçalves de Oliveira (21 May 1871 - 4 July 1878)
 * José Pereira da Silva Barros (7 Jan 1881 - 25 June 1891), appointed Bishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro
 * João Fernando Santiago Esberard (Esberrard) (born Spain) (12 May 1891 - 12 Sep 1893), appointed Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro
 * Manoel dos Santos Pereira (12 Sep 1893 - 25 April 1900 )
 * Luís Raimundo da Silva Brito (23 Feb 1901 - 5 Dec 1910 see below)


 * Metropolitan Archbishops of Olinda
 * Luís Raimundo da Silva Brito (see above 5 Dec 1910- 9 Dec 1915)
 * Sebastião (Leme) da Silveira Cintra (29 April 1916 - 29 April 1918 see below)


 * Metropolitan Archbishops of Olinda & Recife
 * Sebastião (Leme) da Silveira Cintra (see above 29 April 1918 - 15 March 1921), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro; future Cardinal
 * Miguel de Lima Valverde † (10 Feb 1922 - 7 May 1951)
 * Antônio de Almeida Moraes Junior † (17 Nov 1951 - 23 April 1960), appointed Archbishop of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro
 * Carlos Gouveia Coelho † (23 April 1960 - 7 March 1964 )
 * Helder Pessoa Câmara † (12 March 1964 - 2 April 1985), world-famous liberation theology icon
 * José Cardoso Sobrinho (2 April 1985 - 16 August 2009)
 * Antônio Fernando Saburido (16 August 2009 - 14 June 2023).
 * Paulo Jackson Nóbrega de Sousa (14 June 2023 - ...)

Coadjutor bishops

 * Coadjutor Bishop: Francisco Xavier Aranha (1754.02.11 – 1757.11.17)
 * Coadjutor Bishop: João Fernando Santiago Esberard (Esberrard) (1890.06.26 – 1891.05.12); future Archbishop
 * Coadjutor Archbishop: João Irineu Joffily (1914.08.18 – 1916.05.04), did not succeed to see; appointed Bishop of Amazonas
 * Coadjutor Archbishop: João Batista Portocarrero Costa (1953.07.03 – 1959.01.06), did not succeed to see

Auxiliary bishops

 * Auxiliary Bishop: José Lamartine Soares (1962.11.16 – 1985.04.02), appointed Archbishop of Maceió, Alagoas
 * Auxiliary Bishop: Hilário Moser (1988.08.17 – 1992.05.27), appointed Bishop of Tubarão, Santa Catarina
 * Auxiliary Bishop: João Evangelista Martins Terra, S.J. (1988.08.17 – 1994.06.15), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Brasília, Distrito Federal
 * Auxiliary Bishop: Bishop Fernando Antônio Saburido, O.S.B. (2000.05.31 – 2005.05.18), appointed Bishop of Sobral, Ceara (later returned here as Archbishop)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

 * Jerónimo Thomé da Silva, appointed Bishop of Belém do Pará in 1890
 * Francisco do Rêgo Maia, appointed Bishop of Niterói (Nictheroy) in 1893
 * Augusto Álvaro da Silva, appointed Bishop of Floresta in 1912; future Cardinal
 * Ricardo Ramos de Castro Vilela, appointed Bishop of Nazaré, Pernambuco in 1919
 * João Tavares de Moura, appointed Bishop of Garanhuns, Pernambuco in 1919
 * José Pereira Alves, appointed Bishop of Natal in 1922

Sources and external links

 * GCatholic.org, with Google map and satellite photo - data for all sections
 * Catholic Hierarchy
 * Archdiocese website (Portuguese)