The Chamber of Faro he congratulated Canon José Pedro Martins for his 50 years of priesthood, celebrated this Monday, 29 June.
Born in Lagos, on 26 October 1942, canon José Pedro entered the Almada Seminary in 1961, where he spent two years. This was followed by another five years of studies and vocation development at the Seminary of Olivais.
Having completed his Theology Course in 1970 at the Superior Institute of Theological Studies in Lisbon, he was ordained a priest on June 29 at the Igreja da Sé de Faro, by the then Bishop of the Diocese, D. Júlio Tavares Rebimbas. He was later appointed Prefect of the Seminary of Faro.
Soon after his ordination, he also devoted himself intensely to teaching, the arts and liturgical music, in particular.
Throughout his career, he was a professor of Portuguese and Catholic Moral and Religious Education, having, in the meantime, graduated in History at the Faculty of Arts of Lisbon.
He founded and directed the Choir of the Conservatório Regional do Algarve, where he also taught the subject of History of Music and, in 1980, of the Coral Ossónoba.
The great taste for music, in fact, profoundly marks the unique path of Canon José Pedro. With several albums published and with his name inscribed in the Encyclopedia of Music in Portugal in the XNUMXth century, the priest is recognized as one of the contemporary exponents of national liturgical music.
«In 1988, then Vicar of the Vigararia of Faro, member of the Priest Council and master of an already distinguished path, receives, with the acclaim of the communities he accompanied, one of the main honors of the Municipality of Faro – the City Medal, Gold Degree. The granting takes place in the year in which the late Monsignor Henrique Ferreira da Silva and Father António Patrício were also granted”, says the Chamber of Faro.
The following year he was appointed rector of the Seminary of Faro and Vicar General of the Diocese with jurisdiction over pastoral care.
In 1996, Bishop Manuel Madureira Dias appointed him canon to the Cabido da Sé de Faro that he was a cantor and, since 2009, he is a dean.
In 2009 assumes the Parish of the Cathedral of Faro and, in 2017, those of Santa Bárbara de Nexe and Estoi.
«A man of faith, possessing a profound doctrinal sensitivity, which is manifested in so many works published by him and others more promoted, Canon José Pedro is inseparable from the process of dynamization and opening up of the Diocese of Algarve to the community», says the autarchy.
“Knowing the virtues and problems of the populations with which he works, he manages to bring together a set of wills that allow him to maximize both the spiritual values and the heritage values of those same communities,” he adds.
«He is also recognized, throughout the Algarve, for a profound humanist and supportive inclination, well remembered in all the places where he was called to serve. That is why, today, at 77 years of age, Canon José Pedro continues to be an esteemed priest listened to by all the faithful and a respected citizen highly regarded by the entire Faro community, regardless of the faith of each one.” , says yet.
Moreover, Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber, “will bring a vote of congratulations and praise to the next executive meeting, so that the municipality officially joins all the fair tributes paid to Canon José Pedro Martins, a man of great humanism and sensitivity, determined by faith and constant availability to serve others».
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