Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde celebrates 491 years since its creation.

Radio Nova de Maria – Cabo Verde.

The Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde is heading towards its 500th anniversary, an event that will take place in 2033. For the Bishop of the Diocese, Cardinal Arlindo Gomes Furtado, every celebration towards that milestone is a blessing.

On 29 May 1532, King João III of Portugal asked the Pope to create a Bishopric in Cabo Verde, whose seat would be in the town of Ribeira Grande, on the island of Santiago, and for which a city would emerge.

The Diocese was eventually erected on 31 Janauary 1533 with Saint James as its patron.

Pope Clement VII created the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde with its headquarters in the parish church of Ribeira Grande by means of a Papal Bull, "Pro Excelenti." It would become a suffragan of the Diocese of Funchal, erected on the same date and by the same document.