Nuno Brás

On January 12, 2019, Bishop Martins is elected by Pope Francis as Bishop of Funchal, succeeding António III. Upon knowing of his appointment Bishop Martins told the press that he felt "a mixture of fear and confidence. Fear because I am aware of my limitations; confidence because I know that Jesus will always be with me and not abandon me." A feeling he would later reiterate his mixed feeling in an interview given to RTP Madeira on February 14.[3][4]

Two days after his appointment was made public by the Holy See, the President of the Republic congratulated Bishop Martins. In his official statement the Portuguese president said that the appointment "fills all Portuguese, believers and non-believers with joy".[5]

He arrived at Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport on February 15, 2019 where he was greeted by his predecessor before kissing the ground following the custom set by Pope John Paul II.[6][7]

Shortly after his arrival, Bishop Martins gave an interview to the Madeiran media surrounded by António III and Teodoro I. On this interview Bishop Martins highlighted that his mission, as Bishop of Funchal, given by Pope Francis was " to build a Christian community and evangelize".[8] When asked about Madeira's economy and how the Diocese could help, he highlighted the cultural contribution of the Catholic Church to the Autonomous Region and how the religious cultural patrimony could be used in the region's favour to promote Christian religious tourism.[9]

As for the sex abuse scandal surrounding Father Anastácio Alves, Bishop Martins told the press, on his arrival to the island, that he will adopt the own way of proceeding of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, in force since 2012.[10][11][12]

On Sunday, February 17, Bishop Martins officially took office as Bishop of Funchal[13] in a ceremony held in the Cathedral of Funchal. In his first homily he appealed to the "holiness" of the priests, called for a Church that "dares to be" and does not just "appears to be",[14] asked his Diocesan Curia to give testimonial of the Risen Christ[15] and ensured "a sincere collaboration with all entities of the Madeiran society, with respect for each one of them".

To his taking of office mass attended the following Catholic clergy:[16]

Country	Attendee	Rank
Portugal	Manuel III	Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon
	Teodoro Faria	Bishop Emeritus of Funchal
	António III	Bishop Emeritus of Funchal
	Francisco Senra de Faria Coelho	Archbishop of Évora
	António Montes	Bishop Emeritus of Bragança-Miranda
	José Ornelas	Bishop of Setúbal
	José Traquina	Bishop of Santarém
	Manuel Quintas	Bishop of Faro
	António Braga	Bishop Emeritus of the Angra
	António Luciano	Bishop of Viseu
	Manuel Felício	Bishop of Guarda
	António Moiteiro	Bishop of Aveiro
	José Cordeiro	Bishop of Bragança-Miranda
	Daniel Batalha	Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon
	Joaquim Mendes	Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon
	Rui Valério	Bishop of the Portuguese Military Ordinariate of Portugal
Cape Verde	Ildo Fortes	Bishop of Mindelo-Cabo-Verde
Holy See	Rino Passigato	Titular Archbishop of Nova Caesaris and Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal;
Madagascar	Alfredo Caires	Bishop of Mananjary

• Official meeting with the Representative of the Republic, Irineu Barreto;[17]
• Official meeting with the President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, Tranquada Gomes;[18]
• Official meeting with the President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque;[19]
• Official meeting with the Mayor of Funchal, Paulo Cafôfo;[20]

On the first months, shortly after taking office, Bishop Nuno, started a series of semi-formal visits around the Autonomous Regions of Madeira to better know the pastoral needs of the diocese. Such visits included:

• 4-day Pastoral Visit to the parishes of Porto Santo Island;[21]
• Visit to the Sacred Art Museum of Funchal;[22]
• Meeting with priests responsible for the parishes located in the northern municipalities of Madeira Island;[23]
• Meeting with priests responsible for the parishes located in the Machico and Santa Cruz municipalities;[24]
• Meetings with Catholic schools and institutions around Madeira Island;[25][26][27]

Following the Priest Giselo Andrade's case and his assignment to the Communications and Media Office of the diocese by his predecessor Bishop Carrilho, Bishop Martins opted to remove Father Giselo from the Permanent Secretariat of the Diocese following his cabinet reshuffle.

On March 23, 2019, the Bishop Nuno announced through the diocese's Facebook page[28] and on a historical note on the diocese's website[29][30][31] the adoption of the diocese's coat of arms. The coat of arms was designed by Miguel Pinto-Correia[28] following the economist's open letter to the bishop, published in the regional newspaper,[32] suggesting that the Diocese should adopt a coat of arms on 600th anniversary of the discovery of Madeira.

On Madeira Day 2019, the year that Madeira celebrated its 600th anniversary of discovery and settlement, Bishop Martins addressed in the Te Deum Mass stressed that such a historical feat was, overall, also a beneficial Christian feat of the Church that became a blessing for the entire population that later settled on the island.[33]

In his sermon Bishop Martins publicly acknowledged that despite 600 years of Catholicism on the island, the Diocese could "not fail to acknowledge the many sins, the many failings and failures that have marked these 600 years, whether by individual Christians or by the Christian community as a whole".[33][34] Implying acknowledgement of the Diocese's persecution and pressure against the Anglican and Evangelical Churches on the island.[35]

As a diocesan member of the Episcopal Conference of Portugal, Bishop Martins participates in the following bodies within the Conference:[36]

• Member of Commission for Christian Education and Doctrine of Faith (2017-2020);
• Member of Commission for Culture, Cultural Assets and Media (2017-2020);

Shortly after taking up office as Bishop of Funchal, Nuno Brás decided[37] that, in partnership with the Theological School of Funchal, he would teach "Introduction to Christianity" and "Revelation, Faith's Foundation" as after-work courses open to anyone interested.

Madeira, as the rest of Portugal, has faced a huge decrease of clergyman, between 2009 and 2014, the country has lost more than 600 priests.[38]

Nuno I inherited from this predecessors a vocations crisis. The Diocese of Madeira faces a shortage of those wishing to consecrate their lives as clergy to the Catholic Church. Nuno I has stated that “in the 90s we were a flourishing island in quantity and quality of vocations, but suddenly, in the space of 20 years, vocations ceased to exist”.[39]

In the bishop's opinion vocations thrive in living Christian communities, in communities which have groups of young people who are enthusiastic about the Christian life, where good catechists are present, where there's a strong parish community and priests who lead their parishes and lives by example.[40]

During the early months of the COVID-19 in Madeira Nuno I rapidly activated the Social Emergency Fund run by the local branch of Caritas with the aim of helping those who have "proven to have been affected, in social and economic terms” the pandemic. The fund of five hundred thousand Euros[41] resulted from a cooperation agreement with the Regional Secretariat for Social Inclusion and Citizenship[42] and aimed to financially support families' “food and fixed costs, medication and consultations, housing and rent and schooling”.[43]

The Regional Government of Madeira enacted, through State of Emergency powers, several restrictions to religious services including non communal mass celebrations. Theses restrictions were imposed together with the Diocese and later lifted in May also in consultation with the Bishop.[44] Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Regional Government Madeira insisted in being contact with the Nuno I, so that together they could come up with a set of procedures aimed at resuming the activities of “face-to-face religious worship”, while abiding to all the prophylactic measures of distance and containment.[45]

On the reopening of the religious services, Nuno I insisted on on informing all parishioners that all risk groups stayed at home throughout the pandemic, instead of attending religious services.[46] And a list of the restrictions regarding religious services was published on the Diocese's website.[47]

The traditional Childbirth Masses were also subject to strict sanitary regulations by the Diocese under Nuno I rule. Having in mind the subsequent deaths related with COVID-19, after Summer, the bishop coordinated the Diocese's regulations with those of the Regional Government of Madeira and forbade the traditional after mass gatherings, meals and celebrations that occur after the religious services.[48][49][50][51]

In one of his masses as Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, Bishop Martins, invited catholic religious teachers to be "pilgrims of God". According to his homily teachers should show students that there is more to life than the things that "one can measure, weight or touch".[52]

Bishop Martins, has ascertained that the role of teachers in society needs to be bigger than "raising rich [in knowledge] people, closed to themselves in this [non-believer] small horizon".[52] According to him catholic religious teachers need to teach their students to search for God and to point out the answers that God gives.[52]

As Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Lisbon and following the McCarrick case and Viganò allegations, happening at about the same time as the conclusion of the Grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, Bishop Martins, together with his peers of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference was co-signer of a public support letter[53] addressed to Pope Francis. The letter was published on September 3, 2018, and followed the Portuguese National Symposium of the Clergy, held in Fátima.

The Portuguese bishops criticized all "attempts to call into question the [Pope's] credibility" and expressed "fraternal support" to the leader of the Catholic Church, stressing that they are in "full communion" with the Pope.

In the same letter, Bishop Martins and his peers also took the opportunity to support and condemn the "drama of child abuse by responsible members of the Church," under a commitment to "root out the causes."

He would later reiterate his public support for Pope Francis pontificate by declaring to Vatican News that " [Pope Francis's pontificate] is the pontificate that God wants for today's time," and concluded that "we should always thank the Popes that God gives us".[54]

Nevertheless, as Bishop of Funchal, Nuno Martins refused to create, in 2019, a special commission to investigate cases of child abuse in the diocese, contrary to the example set by the Patriarchate of Lisbon, under the argument that "there are no cases that justify such".[55] In this regard, Bishop Martins did not considered the case of Father Anastácio, who is missing, and who is being investigated by the Judiciary Police due to child abuse crimes. Instead he preferred to maintain an internal diocesan investigation on that specific case while stating that he does not want to "substitute the police" in this matter.[55]

On the diocese's online newspaper Bishop Martins wrote[56] that the Virgin Mary was the woman in the likeness of Christ. In his theological article he stated that the Virgin Mary was physically and spiritually similar to Christ:

"That, physically, she was similar to her Son, it is not surprising. And no, I am not mistaken: even physically, it is the Virgin who is similar to her Son, because it was in his image that everything was created!

But it is much more than that: everything about the Virgin Mary is like Jesus. Because she is his perfect, finished disciple: the disciple who follows the Lord through the dusty paths of Galilee and Judea; the disciple standing at the cross; the disciple who was given the mission to care for other disciples forever, throughout history.

The Virgin Mary (of course she is a Virgin, even physically, because that is the sign that the One who was born of her is truly God, and she is all of God and for God!) has the form of Jesus Christ."

Bishop Martins set as one of his main priorities upon taking office the care and looking after of those Madeirans and second-generation Madeirans that are fleeing from Venezuela[57][58][59] as consequence of Maduro's regime. On this issue he has stated that "it is necessary to welcome those who need help. Then it will also be important to develop cooperation with the Caritas of Venezuela, as an institution that is necessarily credible to support the people of Madeira and beyond, who are experiencing very difficult times."[60]

When interviewed on March 2, 2019, Bishop Martins admitted[61] that homosexuals can be "good Christians". Further to this he stated[61] that "God loves you in this situation of yours. And because he loves you, he invites you to convert. He invites you to change". He clarified that he views[61] homosexuality as a condition and as such Jesus Christ invites all Christians to internally convert.

The bishop's views were heavily criticized[62] by Madeira Pride, the region's LGBT pride organiser, when he stated that it was a contradiction to call family to a homosexual union.[62]

Bishop Martins is a critic of the abortion laws in Portugal and the possibility of the legalization of euthanasia, having used[63] the diocese's online newspaper to criticize further liberalization of said laws. He has stated that a "society that allows someone to decide on the life of another is not a society we want to live in... All Human life is sacred and untouchable.[63]

In February 2020, following the debate in the Assembly of the Republic to approve the euthanasia in Portugal, Bishop Nuno Brás ordered all priest to give sermons against euthanasia and all parishes to distribute leaflets explaining the concepts of assisted death and of the right to life.[64] The leaflets ordered to be distributed, and published by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, contained only questions with answers defended by the Catholic Church that reinforce the conviction that “one must defend human life to the end. Never cause death".[65]

Another action carried out by Bishop Nuno Brás, on Fevreuary 2020, in an attempt to raise the issue among the catholic people in Madeira, was to hold an ecumenical vigil in the Church of the College with leaders of other main Christian faiths on the island, among them Ilse Berardo. The vigil was attended by the President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira and member of CDS-PP Madeira, José Manuel Rodrigues.[66]

As a member of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, Bishop Nuno Brás advocates the referendum against the decriminalization of euthanasia in Portugal and proposes to deputies in the Assembly of the Republic a stronger investment on “palliative care”.[67] He has also accused the Portuguese deputies proponents of euthanasia of choosing the "cheapest way out" for the Portuguese Healthcare System instead of focusing taxpayers money in palliative care.[68]

Also the issue of euthanasia, Bishop Martins stated that:[67]

“Whether it is a passing disease, a chronic illness, or a very serious illness, in which it seems that the whole world is fleeing from us, we Christians want to become aware, we want to say that we are not alone, we want to realize that God is with us, that He never leaves us ”

In 2019, Bishop Martins expressed his concern for the lack of a young population in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and a "frightening" low number of births. He also pointed out that young people who exist at any given moment, go to the mainland to attend university and lose their roots acquired in Madeira, implying lack of economic opportunities.[69]

Bishop Martins was against the regionalisation of mainland Portugal at the time of the 1998 Portuguese regionalisation referendum. Faced with his assignment to the Diocese of Funchal and on his first anniversary as bishop of the diocese he publicly acknowledge his misconceptions on the issue:[70]

“I was decidedly opposed to regionalization, when it was the referendum. At this moment, I am wondering if regionalization is not the opportunity that regions in the interior of the continent could seize for development and for the resolution of problems that they objectively have...[regionalization] was the way that the Madeirans found to claim before the national government an increase in their standard of living, a set of improvements that would otherwise always be difficult... Regionalization, in the specific case of Madeira, meant that there was development, improvement of living standards, with the Madeirans becoming aware of their own identity - with some pride, I must say - of their specificity and of what they can give to the whole of Portugal."

During the 2019 Madeiran regional election Bishop Martins appealed[71][72] to candidates to use the electoral campaign as a "time of civilization" and criticized "personal attacks" and "slander" among politicians. He further requested that all candidates should have dignified debates and should "respect for the dignity of other participants”, the electoral campaign should be "a time and a space for civilization".

Contrary to his predecessors, Bishop Martins requested[72] the parties and their candidates to not use catholic churchyards as places for political campaign rallies with the use of megaphones.

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