D. Manuel Martins

Born in the municipality of Matosinhos, after attending primary school in his hometown, he graduated from the diocesan seminaries of the city of Porto (Porto Diocesan Seminary and Porto Major Seminary). After completing his studies in Theology, he graduated in Canon Law from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1954.

He was a professor and vice-rector of the Major Seminary of Porto and a professor at the São Manuel Institute. From 1960 to 1969, during the political exile of D. António Ferreira Gomes, Bishop of Porto, he was parish priest of Cedofeita. As parish priest of Cedofeita, he initiated the construction of the new church, built a bathing colony (called Noah's Ark), and acquired the imposing building of the Cedofeita Daycare Center, where part of the parish's social services were installed. He also founded the parish newspaper Alleluia and maintained a weekly radio program for a long time on the prestigious Emissores do Norte Reunidos.

With the return of Dom António Ferreira Gomes from exile, he was reinstated as a professor at the Seminary and appointed vicar-general of the Diocese of Porto, also directing the diocesan magazine Igreja Portucalense.

On July 16, 1975, in the midst of the "Hot Summer" of the PREC (Processo Revolucionário em Curso - Ongoing Revolutionary Process), he was appointed the first Bishop of Setúbal, and ordained on October 26. In Setúbal, he found a social climate marked by instability and all kinds of deprivation, and he sought to live deeply within the life of the people, fulfilling, moreover, the motto chosen at his episcopal ordination: "I was born a Bishop in Setúbal, now I am from Setúbal. Here I will proclaim the Gospel of justice and peace." With a very active presence, he carried out his pastoral work until April 24, 1998, primarily serving the most needy and marginalized, to such an extent that some municipalities designated him an honorary citizen, decorated him with several medals of merit, named the Setúbal campus of the Universidade Moderna (Modern University) after him, and named the former Secondary School No. 1, located on the Estrada do Alentejo (Alentejo Road).

D. Manuel da Silva Martins is known for not mincing words. Funny, open, and straightforward, he has no qualms about saying what he thinks, for example, that he divides priests into two classes: those who believe in what they say and do, and those who are mere functionaries. He spends his life among the people, feeling the people, listening to them, being one of them, knowing what they experience and the desperate situations they find themselves in.

D. Manuel Martins' time in Setúbal lasted 23 years, during which his figure became a necessary character in the contemporary history of a region that went through, at the very least, problematic phases. His intervention was not always peaceful, and he was nicknamed the Red Bishop, with all the political baggage that this epithet entails, in an attempt to use his influence to combat the media attention he enjoyed.

When D. Manuel Martins arrived in Setúbal, he found a city of proletarians, men and women who strongly identified with the Communist Party. These people had such an aversion to what they called the ostentation of the Church. At the moment the new Bishop was ordained, the church doors were stoned as a form of revolt and rejection of such a high representative of the Church. However, mastery was a skill that D. Manuel Martins did not lack, and so, in order to win over the people, he refrained from wearing clerical vestments outside the church and approached the population, showing solidarity with their concerns. Hence, he was given the title of Red Bishop.

As a member of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, he chaired the Commission for Social Action, Migration, and Tourism. As president of the Portuguese Section of Pax Christi International, he championed the issue of East Timor, with various initiatives culminating in a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York and, later, a visit to Timor. He is a founding member of non-governmental organizations. Oikos and Pro Dignitate.
Since 1998 he has resided in his hometown, Leça do Balio, which to this day has a street and an avenue named after him. He is seen daily on the streets of the parish, where he talks to passersby. Despite his status as a resigned bishop, he holds conferences and orientation sessions for the clergy.

He was made an honorary citizen of several municipalities in Setúbal, Matosinhos, and Maia, as well as Winnipeg, Canada. His name appears in... Dictionary of Portuguese Personalities of the 20th CenturyHe holds an honorary doctorate from Lusíada University, and a secondary school in Setúbal, the D. Manuel da Silva Martins Secondary School, was named after him. Four streets have also been named after him: two in Leça do Balio, one in Maia, and another in Sesimbra. A bust was erected in his honor in Leça do Balio, and a statue in Almada. A neighborhood in Gaia, renovated by the local council, was named after him. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ and the Human Rights Award from the Assembly of the Republic.

Five books have been published about him and his work: The Story of a Crisis: The Cry of the Bishop of Setúbal; Bishop of Setúbal, A Plural Man; D. Manuel Martins, the Bishop of All; D. Manuel Martins, The Hope of a Peopleand D. Manuel Martins, A Resigned Bishop, But Not ResignedHe wrote two books: A Way of Being and Cries of Hope.

By testamentary disposition of D. António Ferreira Gomes, he is a member of the SPES Foundation, of which he was president until 2006. That foundation, whose name is the Latin word for "hope," results from a legacy of D. António Ferreira Gomes and is dedicated to contributing to the Civilization of Love.