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THE DIOCESE OF SÃO TOMÉ – LOWER GUINEA
3.1 São Tomé island
The diocese of São Tomé was founded in 1534. It included the island of São Tomé with the other islands and coastland from Cape Palmas to Cape Agulhas, except that Congo and Angola were separated in 1596 to make the diocese of São Salvador. The Portuguese discovered São Tomé in 1470 and settled it with colonists and slaves. Franciscans were present at the beginning,[1] and by 1494 African priests trained in Lisbon were sent to the island.[2] Augustinians came early in the 16th century and remained until 1594, returning at a later time.
The first bishop, Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas (1534-40), was a diocesan priest. He never came to his diocese and was transferred to Ceuta. His successor, the Dominican Bernardo da Cruz, never came either because less than a year after his appointment he was made rector of the University of Comimbra in Portugal. Nevertheless he retained his title to São Tomé and another Dominican, João Baptista, was appointed his auxiliary in 1542. João Baptista, however, was to reside in Congo to succeed the late auxiliary Bishop Henrique, while a vicar general looked after São Tomé. Bernardo da Cruz finally resigned as bishop of São Tomé in 1553 and the next year Gaspar Cão, an Augustinian, was appointed and took up residence on the island. Gaspar Cão had many disputes with the governor of the island. Complaints led the Pope to order an ecclesiastical trial in which the Bishop was acquitted of the charges against him.[3] In 1571 Gaspar Cão founded a seminary which lasted until his death in 1574.[4] In the same period he sent Augustinians to Warri. The first Jesuit chaplain came to São Tomé in 1570. Other Jesuits came in 1604 and 1636.[5]
Under Bishop Martinho de Ulhoa (1578-91), of the Order of Christ, the seminary was revived in 1585, but his successor, the Franciscan Francisco de Vila Nova (1593-1602) had it moved to Portugal in 1595 because of a quarrel with the Augustinians about the running of the seminary and because the Africans would not let their sons or relatives enter.[6] Portuguese relations with the Africans in São Tomé were not in fact good at this time. In 1584 and 1593 the black people of the interior revolted and there was a slave revolt in 1595.[7] In 1598 the Portuguese waged a war against the blacks of the interior with the intention of wiping them out.[8] The Portuguese on their part suffered a devestating invasion by the Dutch in 1599.
The next bishop was a Dominican, António Valente (1604-9). He did not get along well with the governor any more than his predecessor and in 1607 returned to Portugal with his complaints. The same year he went back to São Tomé with a new governor. In 1605 there was talk of setting up a seminary in Lisbon for West Africans, but in 1609 the talk was still going on with nothing being done.[9] Seven years elapsed after Bishop António Valente’s death before a successor was provided, Pedro da Cunha (1616-22), an Augustinian. The year he arrived another revolt of the blacks was put down.[10] In 1632 he died, supposedly poisoned by “new Christians”, i.e. converted Jews or Muslims from Spain who were so often the object of suspicion at home and in the colonies.[11] A new bishop, António Nogueira, of the Order of Christ, was appointed the same year, but never went.
From 1641 to 1649 São Tomé was occupied by the Dutch. When the island returned to Portuguese hands, a normal but not problem-free Church existed. The only development connected with São Tomé in the following century was the work of the Capuchins. Since 1639 they stopped there on their way to other destinations, and after 1685 had the church and hospice of Santo António which was a base for their missions on the islands of Anno Bon and Principe and the mainland kingdoms of Warri, Benin, Ardra, Whydah, Calabar and Bonny. Lack of numbers, controversies with the civil and diocesan authorities of São Tomé and Portuguese restrictions against foreigners led to the final withdrawal of the Capuchins in 1794. The Church continued to exist simply as a holding operation.