Teodoro de Faria dedicated "heart and soul to the people of Madeira"

The President of the Republic today lamented the death of the bishop emeritus of Funchal, Teodoro de Faria, who died this Saturday at the age of 94, remembering a man who dedicated himself “heart and soul to the people of Madeira”.

In a note published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to the diocese of Funchal and the Catholic Church and remembered Teodoro de Faria as “the beloved figure of the Autonomous Region of Madeira over several decades”.

The Bishop Emeritus of Funchal was a “remarkable figure in the religious, cultural and pastoral spheres, who dedicated himself heart and soul to the people of Madeira, who are now poorer with his departure,” wrote the President of the Republic.

Teodoro de Faria died on Saturday, and would have turned 95 today. He was born in the parish of Santo António, in Funchal, Madeira Island, on August 24, 1930, and was ordained a priest on September 22, 1955, in the Funchal Cathedral.

It should also be noted that he was bishop of Funchal between 1982 and 2007, for 26 years, after having studied at the Gregorian University in Rome, at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and at the École Biblique et Archeologique in Jerusalem, and having been rector of the Pontifical Portuguese College in Rome between 1976 and 1982.

At the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, the Bishop of Funchal was president of the Episcopal Commission for Migration and Tourism and member of the Pontifical Commission for Migrants and Itinerant People, having participated in several conferences in Rome.

He was also a representative of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference at COMECE (Commission des Episcopats de la Communauté Européenne).

Teodoro de Faria asked Pope Benedict XVI for his resignation, due to age limits, in 2006.

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