José Manuel Bolieiro welcomes appointment of Monsignor António Saldanha by Pope Francis - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

The President of the Regional Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, welcomes the appointment by Pope Francis of Monsignor António Saldanha as canon of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

A diocesan priest from Faial, he is the first Portuguese to be bestowed with this distinction in recent history and will be invested on April 28. This represents an "honour and pride" for Portugal and specifically for the Azores, said the President of the Government.

"The investiture of Monsignor António Saldanha raises him and the entire country and the Region. The trust placed in him by Pope Francis will be reciprocated, as I am certain, in the mission that our fellow citizen now embraces," added José Manuel Bolieiro.

According to information provided by the Igreja Açores website, António Saldanha is the first Portuguese priest to be bestowed with this distinction in one of the most important churches in Rome, where the Pope goes regularly, especially every time he travels, and where the most important Marian icon is located, the Salus Populi Romani, one of the two symbols of World Youth Day.

António Manuel Machado de Saldanha e Albuquerque was born on the island of Faial on February 9, 1969. He was ordained a priest on June 26, 1994. He holds a doctorate in History from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, having taught History at the Angra Seminary. He was parish priest of Agualva and São Sebastião on the island of Terceira, parish priest of the Horta parish church, chaplain of the Nossa Senhora do Carmo Church and Assistant of the Third Order of Carmo. He moved to Rome, where he is an official in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He was made Monsignor in December 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. He is also a Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and a Magistral Chaplain of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.