| Jurisdiction: | Diocese |
| Lamego | |
| Latin: | Dioecesis Lamacensis |
| Local: | Diocese de Lamego |
| Country: |  Portugal |
| Province: | Braga |
| Metropolitan: | Archdiocese of Braga |
| Area Km2: | 2,848 |
| Population: | 160,700 |
| Population As Of: | 2013 |
| Catholics: | 157,500 |
| Catholics Percent: | 98.0 |
| Denomination: | Roman Catholic |
| Rite: | Roman Rite |
| Established: | 569 |
| Cathedral: | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption |
| Bishop: | António José da Rocha Couto, SMP |
| Metro Archbishop: | Jorge IV |
| Suffragan: | for one --> |
| Archdeacon: | for one--> |
| Emeritus Bishops: | Jacinto Tomás de Carvalho Botelho Bishop Emeritus (2000-2011) |
| Map: | Di%C3%B3cesis_de_Lamego.svg |
| Website: | http://www.diocese-lamego.pt |
The Diocese of Lamego (Latin: Dioecesis Lamacensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal.[1] [2]
Lamego became Catholic when the Visigothic king Reccared I converted to Catholicism. According to local tradition, the city of Lamego received the Gospel from either St. James the Greater or St. Paul. Some Portuguese authorities name St. Peter of Rates as the first Bishop of Lamego during the middle of the 1st century, and later the first Bishop of Braga, purportedly appointed by St. James, though this theory is probably a myth, given that it is proven that St. James was celebrating Easter in Jerusalem precisely the same year.
The true origins of the diocese start with Bishop Sardinário (or Sardinarius), whose signature from the Second Council of Braga in 572 exists among the suffragan bishops of Archbishop Martin of Braga. Just three years before this, at the Council of Lugo in 569, several new dioceses were created. Hence, it is very likely that the Diocese of Lamego was established between 569 and 572. Very little about the diocese's early history. Some of the early bishops' names are known, but nearly nothing else: Philippus (c. 580-89), Profuturus (c. 630-38), Witaricus (c. 646), and Filimirus (653-56).
From 693 to 876 it is unknown who the bishops of Lamego were. Upon the Moorish invasion in 714, the Bishop of Lamego was forced to flee northbound to the region of Galicia in the northern Iberian Peninsula. In 876, the first known Bishop of Lamego in nearly 200 years is Argimirus, who was still reigning as late as 899, when he partook in the consecration of the cathedral of Compostela. Argimirus was known to have resided in the Diocese of Lamego, but it is uncertain whether other bishops of Lamego actually stayed in the city. It is likely that they were only titular bishops after the invasion, especially because the Moors destroyed the city in 982.
Ferdinand the Great of León recaptured the city in 1057 and the Diocese of Lamego was able to function normally again. Despite this, for several decades, the seat of the bishop appears to have been empty for several decades around the late 11th century and early 12th century. In 1143, King Alfonso I of Portugal reestablished the Diocese of Lamego and Mend Godinus, an Augustinian friar, became the new bishop.
On 30 September 1881, Pope Leo XIII by the Bull "Gravissimum" placed the Diocese of Lamego under the metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Braga.
As of 1909, the Diocese of Lamego had 273,741 inhabitants, almost entirely Catholic, 283 parishes, 283 parish churches, 1144 public chapels, 314 diocesan priests, one secondary school for boys run by Benedictines; two convents of Franciscan nuns, and one convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.
| Population | Priests | Permanent Deacons | Religious | Parishes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholics | Total | % | Diocesan | Religious | Total | Catholics per Priest | Male | Female | ||||
| 1909[3] | Almost entire pop. | 273,741 | - | 314 | - | 314+ | ≈872 | - | - | - | 283 | |
| 1949 | 224,398 | 224,969 | 99.7 | 215 | 9 | 224 | 1,001 | - | 11 | 58 | 217 | |
| 1970 | 220,112 | 220,114 | 100.0 | 191 | 13 | 204 | 1,078 | - | 15 | 94 | 221 | |
| 1980 | 230,500 | 235,600 | 97.8 | 162 | 16 | 178 | 1,294 | - | 18 | 86 | 223 | |
| 1990 | 171,280 | 172,000 | 99.6 | 171 | 15 | 186 | 920 | - | 15 | 79 | 223 | |
| 1999 | 147,250 | 148,547 | 99.1 | 157 | 11 | 168 | 876 | - | 12 | 82 | 223 | |
| 2000 | 146,826 | 148,123 | 99.1 | 151 | 11 | 162 | 906 | - | 12 | 79 | 223 | |
| 2001 | 143,470 | 144,727 | 99.1 | 141 | 10 | 151 | 950 | - | 11 | 80 | 223 | |
| 2002 | 142,926 | 144,218 | 99.1 | 143 | 10 | 153 | 934 | 2 | 11 | 79 | 223 | |
| 2003 | 145,378 | 147,608 | 98.5 | 146 | 11 | 157 | 925 | 2 | 12 | 76 | 223 | |
| 2004 | 159,758 | 162,297 | 98.4 | 147 | 9 | 156 | 1,024 | 2 | 10 | 70 | 223 | |
| 2013 | 157,500 | 160,700 | 98.0 | 127 | 6 | 133 | 1,184 | 1 | 6 | 57 | 223 | |