Portugal, Christianity in

Portugal, Christianity in. The independent history of Portugal began in the 12th cent., when the country became free of Castile-León and a self-governing vassal of the Papacy. There was subsequently a nationalist anti-Papal movement, but in the Great Schism anti-Castilian feeling kept the Portuguese bishops on the side of Urban VI and his successors. The reform of the bishops and clergy at the end of the 15th cent. anticipated the Reformation, which had no influence in the country. Especially from the mid-16th cent., Portuguese missionaries were active in the territories conquered by Portugal in Africa, America, and the East; mass conversions were secured, but only in Brazil is there much trace of this activity.

Between 1580 and 1640 Portugal was annexed by Spain, but Portuguese independence was recognized by the Papacy in 1669. In the 18th cent. the policies of the Marquis de Pombal led to the secularization of higher education and the expulsion of the Jesuits (1759). After the triumph of the liberals in the civil war of 1832–4, Portugal was further secularized; the property of the religious orders was confiscated and no novices allowed. The RC Church was disestablished in Portugal in 1911 and in the Portuguese colonies in 1913. In 1933 the religious orders were allowed to return and a new concordat between the Portuguese government and the Vatican was signed in 1940. The importance of the Church in national life is considerable.

The Lusitanian Church of Portugal, a small episcopal body dating from c.1867, was integrated into the Anglican Communion in 1980.