Bishop of Porto
Manuel da Silva Rodrigues Linda was born in the parish of Paus, Resende, on April 15, 1956. He attended the Minor Seminary of Resende, the Major Seminary of Lamego, and the Institute of Human and Theological Sciences in Porto, where he completed his higher education in Theology in 1980. He was ordained a priest on June 10, 1981, for the Diocese of Vila Real. Over the years, he held various ecclesiastical roles, including parish priest, diocesan assistant for Catholic Action, Promoter of Justice, and Defender of the Bond. Alongside his ecclesiastical activities, he earned a degree in Humanities from the Faculty of Philosophy in Braga (Catholic University of Portugal, 1987) and a degree in Theology from the Faculty of Theology in Porto (same university, 1988). He also obtained a canonical licentiate (second-cycle studies, equivalent to a Master's degree) in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (1991) and a doctorate in Theology, specializing in Moral Theology, from the Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid (1998), with a thesis titled "Political Andragogy in D. António Ferreira Gomes." Throughout the years, he taught at various schools (basic and secondary schools, as well as the Vila Real Nursing School, where he taught for nearly three decades) and at the Catholic University of Portugal, specifically within the Faculties of Theology and Law and the School of the Arts. He supervised numerous undergraduate and master's theses and served on various academic examination boards. He also collaborated occasionally with other higher education institutions, notably the Miguel Torga Higher Institute/School of Advanced Studies (Coimbra), the University of Minho, and the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. In addition to teaching, he held various academic administrative roles, such as Director of the Vila Real Extension of the UCP Faculty of Theology, member of the Pedagogical Commission of the Faculty of Theology (Porto), Erasmus/Socrates Program Coordinator, member of the Editorial Board of the journal *Humanística e Teologia*, and member of the Pedagogical Council. He is a founding member of the Center for the Study of Portuguese Thought (UCP – Porto). In addition to various contributions to media outlets, he has published around forty scholarly works, including journal articles, contributions to collective volumes, dictionary and encyclopedia entries, and more. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Braga on June 27, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI, with the titular see of Case Mediane, and was ordained on September 20 of that year. On October 10, 2013, Pope Francis appointed him Military Ordinary for Portugal—or Bishop of the Armed Forces and Security Forces—succeeding Dom Januário Torgal Mendes Ferreira. He canonically took office on January 24, 2014, in Fátima, in the presence of the priests serving in the Military Ordinariate. On April 8, 2014, he was appointed Chief Chaplain through a joint order issued by the Ministers of National Defense and Internal Administration. Within the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, he served on the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral Care, specifically for the healthcare sector (from 2000 to 2014); on April 29, 2014, he was elected President of the Episcopal Commission for Mission and New Evangelization and a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral Care and Mobility. He has been a member of the Permanent Council since 2023.