Aleixo de Menezes family name Menezes
Biographical sketch
Aleixo was born on 25 January 1559. His father was Lord Dom Aloysius De Menezes, famous lord and family member of Kantlhield and mother Louisa de Norohna. After the initial education, he joined in the order of St. Augustine at the age of 15. He studied philosophy, rhetoric, theology and literature from the university  Coimbra. Once, he was offered the status of the rector of the Coimbra academy, but he refused out of  humility. Alexi’s desire was to work for the pastoral care of souls. Later he was appointed as the chaplain of the Portugal palace. He worked as the prior of the Augustinian monastery in santhralsa and ulsiponi. He was consecrated Archbishop of Goa in 1595, when he was only 35.
As Archbishop of Goa, Menezes focused on strengthening Catholic ascendancy in Portugal. Part of this mission involved bringing the Saint Thomas Christians, an ancient body formerly part of the Church of the East, under the authority of the Catholic Church. By 1597 the last metropolitan bishop of the Saint Thomas Christians, Abraham, had died, and Menezes was able to secure the submission of Archdeacon George, the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. That year Menezes convened the Synod of Diamper, which introduced a number of forcible reforms to the church in order to be bring the Saint Thomas Christians fully into the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. The traditions of the Saint Thomas Christians, created during centuries of maintaining their Christian way of life in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim environment, were disregarded and overturned, and many of their holy writings were condemned as heretical and consigned to the fire.
Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated Francis Ros, S. J. as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Angamalé for the Saint Thomas Christians.
In 1612 Aleixo de Menezes was appointed Archbishop of Braga, Portugal. He was viceroy of Portugal during the Philippine Dynasty from 1612 to 1615. He died in 1617, his remains are located at the Populo Church in Braga, Northern Portugal.
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