António Marto | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Bishop Emeritus of Leiria-Fátima | |
.jpg) Cardinal Marto in 2018. | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Leiria-Fátima |
| Appointed | 22 April 2006 |
| Installed | 25 June 2006 |
| Term ended | 28 January 2022 |
| Predecessor | Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva |
| Successor | José Ornelas Carvalho |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (2018-) |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 November 1971 |
| Consecration | 11 February 2001 by Joaquim Gonçalves |
| Created cardinal | 28 June 2018 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | António Augusto dos Santos Marto (1947-05-05)5 May 1947 (age 77) |
| Parents | Serafim Augusto Marto Maria da Purificação Correia dos Santos |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Gregorian University |
| Motto | Adiutores Gaudii Vestri (Workers for Your Joy) (2Cor 1:24)[1] |
| Styles of António Marto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
António Augusto dos Santos MartoGCCGCIH (Portuguese pronunciation:[ɐ̃ˈtɔniuˈmaɾtu]; born 5 May 1947) is a Portugueseprelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop ofLeiria-Fátima from 2006 to 2022. Pope Francis elevated him to cardinal on 28 June 2018.
António Marto was born on 5 May 1947 in Tronco, a small village of roughly 500 population, inChaves, rural Portugal. His family was traditionally Catholic, and of humble background. His father, Serafim Augusto Marto, was aFiscal Guard and his mother, Maria da Purificação Correia dos Santos, a schoolteacher.[2] António was the youngest of four siblings, two of which died before he was born at age 4 and age 6, respectively; the latter was crushed in a brutal accident when the axle of anox cart broke on the way back from the grape harvest. The surviving sister married and had offspring.[2] António was the product of anunintended but ultimately welcomed pregnancy.[2]
Despite coincidentally sharing his surname with the shepherd children ofFátima,Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, they have no familial relation; Marto's father came originally from the village of Santulhão, inVimioso, instead.[3]
António Marto was very fond of the localparish priest, who he used to engage in conversation, and who left him with a lasting impression on how he was held in high esteem by the whole community. At age 10, following hisprimary school education, António unexpectedly expressed his desire to become a priest; he initially met some resistance from his father, who even though was devoutly Catholic, had envisioned a career in military for him and was planning to send him to theInstitute of the Pupils of the Army. Joiningseminary, he was a keen student (with some shortcomings inmathematics) and was also very keen on past-times such as sports (namelyvolleyball,basketball,handball, andfield hockey) and theatre (where he was, ironically, found best suited to play thedevil in popularmorality plays).[2]
He started hisTheology studies inVila Real, but in 1968 the course was transferred to the Major Seminary inPorto, by decision of the bishop. He graduated at age 22, two years before the minimum age forordination. Captivated by the spirit of the Frenchworker-priest movement, and because of the then-prevalent idea that industrial-class workers had become largely disaffected with the Church, António Marto and two colleagues took up labour for a year in ametalworking factory producing parts for vehicle engines. This aided them in gaining valuable insights on the issues affectingworking class masses and the world oftrade unions.[2]
Cardinal Marto was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on 7 November 1971,[4] while he was studying for his doctorate inTheology from thePontifical Gregorian University.[4] At this time, he studied underCardinal Joseph Ratzinger.[2] He concluded his doctoral thesis in 1978, titledEsperança Cristã e Futuro do Homem: Doutrina Escatológica do Concílio Vaticano II ("Christian Hope and the Future of Man: The Eschatological Doctrine of the Second Vatican Council").[5]
Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop ofBraga on 10 November 2000, assigning him the titular see ofTamata,[6] and he was consecrated a bishop on 11 February 2001.[4] He chose as his episcopal motto "Servidores da vossa alegria" (Servants of your joy).[5] John Paul II later appointed him as the Bishop ofViseu on 22 April 2004.[7]
Pope Benedict XVI named him Bishop ofLeiria-Fátima on 22 April 2006.[8] In this capacity, he played host to two Popes in their visits to theSanctuary of Fátima:Benedict XVI in 2010, andFrancis in 2017. From 2011 until 2014, Bishop Marto was delegate of thePortuguese Episcopal Conference to theCommission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union.[9]
On 20 May 2018,Pentecost,Pope Francis announced he would make Marto acardinal on 28 June.[10] Marto learned of this as he was vesting for Mass atLeiria Cathedral: he noticed an unusual missed call from theapostolic nunciature and, worried that anything serious (like the Pope having died) had happened, he opened avoicemail with unexpected congratulations from NuncioRino Passigato on his appointment. He conducted the ceremony, in which he administered the sacrament ofConfirmation to 60 youths, without commenting on the appointment; as Mass ended members of the congregation came to congratulate him while he was taking photographs with the newly confirmed.[11]
At the 28 June consistory, he was assigned the titular church ofSanta Maria sopra Minerva.[12]
In 2020, during the height of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Marto called the view that the pandemic was God's punishment "unchristian", and further said that such views could only be justified through "ignorance,sectarian fanaticism, or madness".[13] On 25 March, Cardinal Marto renewed the consecration of Portugal and Spain to theSacred Heart of Jesus and theImmaculate Heart of Mary, and added the names of twenty-four other countries (Albania,Bolivia,Colombia,Costa Rica,Cuba,Slovakia,Guatemala,Hungary,India,Mexico,Moldova,Nicaragua,Panama,Paraguay,Peru,Poland,Kenya, theDominican Republic,Romania,Tanzania,East Timor andZimbabwe) at the request of their respective episcopal conferences.[14]
Marto criticised a petition by 500 Portuguese Catholics addressed to theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to overturn thePortuguese Episcopal Conference's decision to administerCommunion in the hand during the pandemic. Having clarified that the signatories "are entitled to their opinion", he lamented thatTraditionalist Catholics were "questioning the very faith of their bishops", and further remarked on the topic of Communion in the hand: "Jesus Himself said 'take and eat'. Take, not 'open thy mouth'. 'Take and eat; take and drink'. Christ's gesture is significant." "Sometimes mouths have so much filth in them.... Sometimes I see callused hands receiving the Sacred Host and I am moved. These are hands that show labour, sacrifice, dedication to their families, dedication unto others. Hands of saints, perchance, saintly hands. Why would we ever restrict [receiving Communion with due reverence] to the tongue?"[15]
Marto was hospitalized in November 2020 with a liver infection and submitted his resignation on 5 May 2021 citing the "limitations of his physical and mental resources".[16] Pope Francis accepted his resignation as bishop of Leiria-Fátima on 28 January 2022.[17]
Marto has been strongly aligned with thetheology of Pope Francis, and has referred to himself as a "steadfast" partner on the Pope's reforms of the Church and theRoman Curia, to make them more "like Jesus, who approached the people, who went out on the streets; Pope Francis's pilgrim Church who goes out to meet everyone, no exception, without any discrimination."[18]
He recognises that, with the end ofChristendom, faith has become much more personalised, instead of mere tradition; therefore "it cannot be reduced to mere doctrine, or a set of rites, or rules of good behaviour"; the Church "must pay regard to the youth, realising that they look for a spiritual dimension that is more profound than what was usually imparted before."[11] Regarding moretraditionalist currents within the Catholic Church, he has lamented the "bulimia of rites and the anorexia of the Word": "the craving, the voracious appetite for consuming rites, and the lack thereof for God's Word".[15]
He has called moderninformation technologies one of the greatest challenges facing modern societies, and therefore the Church, because it's a "new culture that imposes a new way of living, a new language, and new kinds of relationships and of communication". The younger generations are "natives" to this new cultural phenomenon; therefore the Church "cannot close its eyes to the novelty of this new world: that's what Pope Francis has been doing."[11]
Marto has cited theEuropean migrant crisis as an example of how societies have become more aggressive due to a culture based on populism that thrives on "fear and insecurity": "It is with sadness that I see a resurgence incertain kinds of nationalism that divide a Europe that used to be open and showed solidarity. Let us hope that the younger generations may be capable of giving Europe a new face."[11]
Commenting on theU.S.-Mexico border crisis, he called theTrump administration family separation policy "immoral".[11]
On 25 August 2018, ArchbishopCarlo Maria Viganò, formerapostolic nuncio to the United States, released an 11-page letter describing a series of warnings to theVatican regarding sexual misconduct byTheodore McCarrick, accusingPope Francis of failing to act on these reports and calling on him to resign.[19] Marto addressed this as "an ignoble organised attack" on Francis, meant to "call into question his credibility and to create division within the Church"; he urged the faithful to remember the message ofOur Lady of Fátima on the importance of unity within the Church, and to commit to the "culture of care" of which the Pope spoke, to protect children and combat every form of abuse.[20]
As thePortuguese Parliament tabled a vote on the decriminalisation ofeuthanasia in February 2020, Marto underlined his opposition, saying "no one could expect a servant of the Gospel to be against life."[21] He affirmed that to the Church, human life was not subject to vote for its intrinsic value, however, as far as the legislative process was concerned, he was supportive of some sort ofpublic consultation, like areferendum, so that the whole of society could be involved in the decision-making process: he cited other religious confessions that were opposed to it, as well as non-confessional organisations, such as the leadership of theOrder of Physicians.[21]
He has also spoken critically of terms like "physician-assisted death" or "dignified death", which he regards as euphemisms used by certain proponents to muddle the concept of euthanasia for ideological gain.[21]
Grand Cross of theOrder of Christ,Portugal (11 May 2010)[22]
Grand Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry,Portugal (18 June 2012)[23]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jacinto Tomás de Carvalho Botelho | Auxiliary Bishop of Braga 2000 – 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Titular Bishop of Bladia 2000 – 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by António Ramos Monteiro | Bishop of Viseu 2004 – 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva | Bishop of Leiria-Fátima 2006 – 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva 2018 – present | Incumbent |
| Province of Lisbon | |
|---|---|
| Province of Braga | |
| Province of Évora | |
| Others |
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