Statue of Cardinal Saraiva - Ponte de Lima

Brother Francisco de S. Luís, alias Francisco Justiniano Saraiva, was born in Ponte de Lima on January 26, 1766 and died in Lisbon on May 7, 1845.

At the age of fourteen he entered the Monastery of São Martinho de Tibães, of the Benedictine order, from where he left years later for the Monastery of Santo André de Rendufe and later for the Theological Faculty of the University of Coimbra.

He joined the Freemasons , of which he became Grand Master, took the name Condorcet and was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the organization responsible for the revolution in Porto in 1820. Despite his ideals, he continued to fight against the French invaders, whom many liberals sided with without fear that such an attitude would be an act of treason.

After the revolution he became one of the members of the Provisional Council of the Supreme Government of the Kingdom and was appointed by the Constituent Courts as a member of the Council of Regents. He was also rector of the University of Coimbra, deputy in the Cortes and president of the Chamber of Deputies.

In 1824 he resigned the episcopal office and was exiled to the monastery of Serra de Ossa, from which he left again after the arrival of the liberal troops in Lisbon in 1833. In 1840 he became Patriarch of Lisbon and in 1843 Pope Gregory XVI confirmed his title and elevated him to cardinal.

Cardinal Saraiva gave his name to one of the oldest press titles in our country, the centenary newspaper "Cardeal Saraiva", published weekly in Ponte de Lima, and for a long time was the only tribute to this important national figure.

Cardinal Saraiva's remains rest in the Pantheon of Cardinals in the Monastery of St. Vincent in Lisbon, along with the other cardinals of the Catholic Church. Right next to it is the Pantheon of the Kings of the Braganza Dynasty.

Willem Vandenameele