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His Excellency, The Most Reverend Belchior Carneiro Leitão | |
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| Born | 1516 |
| Died | 19 August 1583(1583-08-19) (aged 66–67) |
| Occupation(s) | Jesuit missionary, bishop |
Belchior Carneiro Leitão, SJ, often known asMelchior Carneiro (1516 – 19 August 1583) was a PortugueseJesuit missionary bishop. He was one of the first Jesuit bishops.
He entered theSociety of Jesus on 25 April 1543 and was appointed in 1551 the first rector of theCollege of Évora, and shortly after transferred to the rectorship of theCollege of Lisbon. When, in 1553,Simão Rodrigues, the first provincial of Portugal, was summoned to Rome to answer charges made against his administration, the visitor, Nadal, assigned him Carneiro as a companion.
In the meantime KingJohn III of Portugal, a friend and patron of the Jesuits, had written both toPope Julius III and toIgnatius Loyola, requesting the appointment of a Jesuit asPatriarch of Ethiopia. On 23 January 1555 the Pope choseJoão Nunes Barreto, giving him at the same time two coadjutors with the right of succession,Andrés de Oviedo,titular bishop of Hieropolis, and Carneiro,titular bishop of Nicaea. Barreto and Oviedo were consecrated 5 May 1555 inLisbon, and were the first Jesuits to be raised to the episcopal dignity. The pope had given them an order of obedience to accept consecration, and Loyola acquiesced, considering that the dignity carried with it hardship and suffering rather than honour.
Unable to enter his missionary field ofEthiopia, Carneiro set out forPortuguese India and landed atGoa. Not having been consecrated before leaving Portugal, he was finally ordained bishop 15 December 1560 by Barreto. Not able to fulfil his original assignment, he received the briefEx Litteris carissimis fromPope Pius V in 1566 appointing himapostolic administrator for the Portuguese missions in Japan and China. He continued to labour on theMalabar coast until 1567, when he was invited to come toMacau where the Jesuits had established a mission. He arrived there in June 1568,thereby becoming the first consecrated bishop in the region of China and Japan.[clarify] His work there was rewarded when theDiocese of Macau was established in 1576 byPope Gregory XIII.
The first papal nominee to be Bishop of Macau in 1576 was not Carneiro, but ratherDiogo Nunes de Figueira, who declined the appointment and never travelled to Macau. The second nominee in 1578 wasLeonardo Fernandes de Sá, who did not arrive in Macau until 1581. As a result, Carneiro served as administrator of the new diocese from 1576 to 1581. He became the nominalPatriarch of Ethiopia in 1577 upon the death of Oviedo, though he was never able to travel there. After the arrival of Sá, Carneiro retired to the home of the Society of Jesus at Macau, where he died in 1583.
Carneiro wrote some letters of historical interest, one fromMozambique, one from Goa, and two from Macau. They are printed in various collections.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Melchior Carneiro".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:| Preceded by Diego Núñez de Figueroa Bishop-Elect | Administrator of Macau 1576-1581 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Patriarch of Ethiopia 1577-1581 | Succeeded by |