Principal (Catholic Church)

{{Short description|Honorific title in the Catholic Church}}

File:Principal D. Thomás de Almeida (séc. XVIII) - Oliveira de Semedo.png

Principal ({{langx|pt|Principal}}, {{IPA|pt|pɾĩsiˈpal}}; {{Plural abbr}} Principais), or more formally, Principal of the Holy Patriarchal Church of Lisbon ({{langx|pt|Principal da Santa Igreja Patriarcal de Lisboa}}), was the honorific title granted to the canons of the chapter of the Patriarchal See of Lisbon by the papal bull Salvatoris nostri Mater, issued by Pope Benedict XIV in 1740.{{cite web |url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4606251 |title=Bula "Salvatoris nostri Mater" de Benedito XIV pela qual se confirmou e aprovou a união das igrejas de Lisboa em uma só |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Bull "Salvatoris nostri Mater", of Benedict XIV, by which the union of the two churches of Lisbon into a single entity was confirmed and approved |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Portuguese National Archive |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=}}

The Patriarchal Chapter, comprising twenty-four Principals presided over by the Principal Dean (Principal Deão), was modelled after the College of Cardinals (and was indeed formally styled "College of Principals"{{cite web |url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=1905832 |title=Colégio dos Principais da Stª Patriarcal de Lisboa |language=Portuguese |trans-title=College of Principals of the Holy Patriarchal [Church] of Lisbon |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Portuguese National Archive |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=}}), and was similarly divided into three orders: Principal Primaries (Principais Primários), Principal Priests (Principais Presbíteros), and Principal Deacons (Principais Diáconos). Also evoking the grandeur of the papal court, the Principals dressed in scarlet cassocks in the manner of cardinals.{{cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Owen |date=1980 |title=The Popes and European Revolution |url=https://archive.org/details/popeseuropeanrev0000chad |url-access=registration |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/popeseuropeanrev0000chad/page/352 352] |isbn=0-19-826919-6 }}

The title and extraordinary rights of vesture ceased to be used in 1834, following the Liberal Wars and the establishment of a liberal constitutional monarchy in the country.{{cite web |url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4381115 |title=Sé Patriarcal de Lisboa |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Patriarchal See of Lisbon |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Portuguese National Archive |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=}}{{cite web |url=https://legislacaoregia.parlamento.pt/V/1/15/107/p149 |title=Decreto de 4 de Fevereiro de 1834 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Decree of 4 February 1834 |author= |date= |website=Legislação Régia |publisher=Assembly of the Republic |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=}}{{cite web |url=https://legislacaoregia.parlamento.pt/V/1/16/84/p67 |title=Decreto de 10 de Janeiro de 1835 |language=Portuguese |trans-title=Decree of 10 January 1835 |author= |date= |website=Legislação Régia |publisher=Assembly of the Republic |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=}}