O Padroado Portuguez na China

A vivid snapshot of late‑19th‑century diplomacy, this work opens with a personal letter that drifts from friendly banter into a pressing concern: the fate of Portugal’s centuries‑old ecclesiastical jurisdiction in China. The author, a Portuguese observer deeply involved in the Macau colony’s affairs, lays out three urgent matters—treaty ratification, customs control, and emigration—before turning the focus to the “padroado,” the royal patronage that once stretched from Macau across vast swaths of the mainland and even to Japan.

Through a series of carefully compiled articles and correspondences, the narrative traces the historical birth of the Macau bishopric, its gradual contraction by successive papal bulls, and the lingering dispute over the appointment of a new bishop. Readers hear the arguments presented to Lisbon’s press, the friction with the Vatican, and the political maneuvering that keeps the question alive, all rendered in a tone that feels both scholarly and intimately conversational.