History

The Catholic History of Lisbon

Lisbon's Catholic story begins with its martyrs and an old Roman see, passes through four centuries of Muslim rule, and starts again on 25 October 1147, when crusaders took the city and its great mosque became the cathedral. Its two patrons are Saint Vincent, whose relics came in 1173, and Saint Anthony, born beside the Sé. From Belém the Portuguese missions sailed to India, Brazil, Japan and China. The earthquake of 1 November 1755, the suppression of the religious orders in 1834 and the Republic of 1910 emptied and rebuilt its churches, and Fátima, Cardinal Cerejeira and the Cristo Rei rebuilt Catholic Lisbon in the 1900s.

To about 415

The Martyrs and Bishops of Olisipo

Lisbon was the Roman town of Olisipo, and its first known Christians are its martyrs. An old tradition names Verissimus and his sisters Maxima and Julia as three Christians put to death under the emperor Diocletian around the year 300. The legend says their bodies were thrown into the river, washed ashore and were buried by local Christians. Santos-o-Velho, meaning the Old Saints, is the riverside church that tradition ties to their burial, and the city's Patriarchate lists them among the holy figures of the diocese.

The first bishop known by name is Potamius, in the middle of the fourth century. He wrote orthodox works but later signed an Arian creed, which denied that the Son is fully God, and he is remembered mostly for that.

Igreja de Santos-o-Velho

Sources(24)

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