SAO PEDRO
466
SAO SEBASTIAO
founded in 1561. is one of the most populous (350,000
in 1910) and prosperous in Brazil; it is the centre of the
coffee trade, Brazil's greatest industry. The present
archbishop, the Most Rev. Duarte Leopoldo da Silva
(b. 4 Apr., 1S04), was transferred to Sao Paulo in
1907, and consecrated in 1908.
Julian IMoreno-Lacalle.
Sao Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul. See Porto A-LEGRE, Archdiocese of.
Sao Salvador de Bahia de Todos os Santos,
Archdiocese of (Saxcti Salvatoris omnium Sanc- torum), a Brazilian see erected by Julius III, 25 Feb., 1551, as suffragan of Lisbon, and raised to archiepi-scopal rank by Innocent XI, 16 Nov., 1676. The diocese at first comprised all Brazil, which had previously formed part of the Diocese of Funchal; the first Mass in Brazil was celebrated on 26 April, 1500, at Coroa Vermelha Island by Henrique de Coimbra, O.F.M. In 1537 the Mercy Hospital was erected at Santos. The first bishop, Pedro Fernandes Sardinha, arrived at Bahia on 22 June, 1552; he left on 2 June, 1556, to return to Europe, but was shipwrecked be- tween the rivers Sao Francisco and Cururipu, and murdered by the Indians, 16 June, 1556. The Church was then governed by Francisco Fernandes till the ar- rival of the second bishop, Pedro Leitao (1559), who held the first Brazihan synod at Bahia, where he died in 1573. B}^ 1581 there were sixty-two churches at Bahia and in the neighbouring region, the Reconcavo. The first archbishop, Caspar de Mendonga, took pos- session of his see by procuration on 3 June, 1677. Archbishop SebastiaoMonteiro da Vida (1702-22) held a provincial council and published the statutes, known as " Constituicao do Arcebispado da Bahia". The first governor of Brazil, Thome de Souza, arrived at Bahia on 29 March, 1549; with him were six Jes- uits, the first sent to the New World, under Manoel da Nobrega. Two days later the first Mass was said at Bahia. On 1 July, 1553, there arrived at Bahia the Venerable Jose Anchieta, S.J., the Apostle of Brazil. A native mission, Sao Andre, was begun forthwith near the city. In 1554 Father da Nobrega opened a college at Piratininga. The early Jesuit missionaries contributed greatly to the progress of the new colony, giving free education, curbing the violence of the pioneers, and protecting the Indians from .slavery, for which purpose they obtained a royal decree in 1570. They also constructed, from Santos to Sao Paulo, a road which for three centuries remained the princi- pal highway of the region. They compiled many im- portant works on the native Indian languages, among which may be mentioned the grammars by Anchieta, Manoel da Veiga, Manoel de Aloraes, Luiz Figueira, and Montoya; and Mammiani's "Catechismo dadou- trina christa na lingua brazilica da nagao kiriri ". The seminary at Bahia was founded by Damasus de Abreu Vieira, O.F.M. ; in 1.583 the Benedictines established the .\bbey of Sao Sebastiao at Bahia.
The episcopal city, Bahia, was founded by Thom<3 de Souza in 1.549 near the site of Victoria which had been established in 1536 by Francisco Pereira Coutinho. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it con- tained houses of the Benedictines, F'ranciscans, Car- melites, Augustinians, Italian Capuchins, and the Mendicants of the Holy Land; also the Carmelite, Trinitarian, Franciscan, and Dominican tertiari(*s, a mercy hospital, a leper hospital, and two orphanages, in addition to many schools. It has now a popula- tion of over 200,rKX) inhabitants; the archdiocese con- tains about 2,5fX},fXXJ Catholics, .5fXX) Protestants, 208 parishes, 240 .s«;cular and 80 regular priests, 3 colleges, and 725 churches and chapels. The present arch- bishop, Jerome Thome da Silva, was born at Sobral on 12 June, 1849; educated at the Collegio Pio-latino- americano, Jitjma; ordained there on 21 Dec, 1872; appointed Vicar-General of Olinda; named Bishop of
Belem do Pard on 26 June, 1890; and transferred as
successor of Mgr Macedo Costa to Sao Salvador on
12 Sept., 1893, being enthroned in Feb., 1894.
GAL.iNTi, Cotnpendio de historia do Brazil (Sao Paulo, 1896- 1905), an excellent account of the early Indian tribes, their languages, customs, and religions is given in I, 90-139; Southet, Hist, of Brazil (London, 1810-19).
A. A. MacErlean.
Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Archdiocese OF (S. Sebastiani Fluminis Januarii). — The ecclesi- astical province of Rio de Janeiro, the third of the seven constituting the Brazilian episcopate, was first created a bishopric, as a suffragan see of the Archdio- cese of Sao Salvador da Bahia, by a Bull of 22 Nov., 1676. It was raised to an arclibishopric in 1893, its jurisdiction comprising the Dioceses of Nictheroy (1893) and Espirito Santo (1892) and the Prefecture ofRioBranco. The total Catholic population of the whole province in 1910 was 2,051,800, and that of the archdiocese proper, 800,000. The jurisdiction of the latter extends over the whole territory of the federal district in which Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the re- public and seat of the archdiocese, is located. There are in the federal district 20 parish churches, 59 chap- els, various monasteries and nunneries, and 63 Catho- hc associations prominent among which are: the"Ir- mandade do Sancti.ssimo Sacramento da Candelaria", founded in 1669 and in charge of the bureau of chari- ties caring for nearly 1000 indigent persons, and of the Asylum of Our Lady of Piety for the education of or- phan girls; the "Irmandade da Santa Casa da Miseri- cordia", operating since 1545 and maintaining a gen- eral hospital, a foundling asylum, an orphan asjdum, and a funeral establishment for the burial of the poor. These benevolent associations, known in Brazil as irrnandades (brotherhoods), do a highly charitable and eminently Christian work, assi.sting the poor and car- ing for the orphans and the sick, bj' the maintenance of hospitals, asylums, savings banks, schools, etc. There are also several associations of St. Vincent of Paul, performing similar work. Of religious orders, there are in the archdiocese Jesuits, Franciscans, Car- melites, Lazarists, Dominicans, and Benedictines; of female orders, there are Sisters of Charity, Ursulines, Carmelites, Poor Clares, and others. The archdio- cese maintains at Rio de Janeiro the Seminary of St. Joseph. Among other Catholic institutions of learn- ing are: the College of the Immaculate Conception for girls; the Jesuit college; the College of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the College of the Sacred Heart of Mary for girls. Mention should also be made of the "Circulo Catholico", a large association founded on 15 Sept., 1899, for the propagation of the Faith, and to provide young men with moral recreation. The organ of the Church in Rio de Janeiro is " O Uni verso " (Rua Evaristo Vega No. 01).
Rio de Janeiro was the first spot in the New World where a colony of Protestants settled. A little island in the bay was (;olonized and fortified by Villegaignon under the patronage of Admiral Coligny in 1555. This Huguenot settlement was destroyed by the Portu- guese in 1.5()(), and the nam(! of the island changed to Sao Sebastiao. The city of Rio de Janeiro was pro- claimed the capital of Brazil in 1763. After the em- pire was (>stal)lislic(l, the iiii])('rial chapel near the pal- ace was selected for a cathedi'al, which building is at pres(!nt being reconstructed. Adjacent to it is the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Both are small structures, but preserve to a wonderful degree the effects of Latin-American architecture. The most noteworthy place of worship in Rio de Janeiro ia the Church of the Candelaria. The corner-stone waa laid about 1780, the funds having been donated by a pioua Brazilian lady in gratitude for her re.sc;ue from a great peril at sea. The building was jjlanned by a Brazilian architect, Evaristo de Vega. Its two towera, surmounted by glittering domes, are among the first
