Died 13 March 1986 | ||
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Dom José Vieira Alvernaz (Ribeirinha de Pico, February 5, 1898 - Angra do Heroism, March 13, 1986) was a Portuguese prelate, Bishop of Cochin, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Patriarch of the East Indies and one of the prominent figures of the Portuguese presence in India during the twentieth century.
Biography
He was ordained a priest in 1920. In 1941, he was appointed Bishop of Cochin. In 1950, he was appointed archbishop-titular of Anasartha, archbishop-coadjutor of Goa and Daman and Patriarch-coadjutor of the East Indies.
In 1953, he succeeded Bishop José da Costa Nunes as Patriarch of the East Indies, a position he held until 1975 when he retired from the Patriarchate and became archbishop emeritus of Goa.
In 1961, after the Annexation of Portuguese Indian territories by the Indian Republic, he fled the territory, and several suffragan dioceses were split (as occurred in 1953).
After his resignation, the Holy See put the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman under his direct subordination.