The Casa Pia is a Portuguese institution founded by

Maria I ''Dom (title), Dona'' Maria I (Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana; 17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) also known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 ...

, known as ''A Pia'' ("Mary the Pious"), and organized by Police Intendant Pina Manique in 1780, following the social disarray of the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

. For almost three centuries, thousands of young boys and girls were raised by Casa Pia, including many public personalities, called casapianos. Casa Pia is Portugal's largest educational institution dedicated to helping youngsters in risk of social exclusion or without parental support. The organisation is composed of ten schools and enrolls approximately 4700 students. In addition to standard schooling, the organisation also provides boarding for children in need. It strives to enable these youngsters to become healthy and successful members of society, by developing intellectual, manual, and physical traits, in an environment promoting spiritual, moral, and religious values. The institution is proud to have had amongst its students many outstanding Portuguese personalities, including politicians, journalists, and artists. The first location was in Castle of São Jorge of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, an important center of production for the Portuguese Royal Navy and Army, and also for

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

: masters trained at Casa Pia, when returned to their home, instruct others in the same profession. More advanced alumni may advance to professional careers. Next level course studies at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(for medicine), the Portuguese Royal Navy academy,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and the Portuguese Academy. Two years after the death of Pina Manique, the Casa Pia closed due to the occupation of the Castle of São Jorge by the French troops of Junot. The school reopened in 1812 at ''Convento do Desterro'', and then the government moved the institution to Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon at 1833. In 1942, it created a network of

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

s for children. At this time it is formed by: * Colégio de Pina Manique * Colégio de D. Maria Pia * Colégio de D. Nuno Álvares Pereira * Colégio de Santa Clara * Colégio de Santo Christo * Colégio de Nossa Senhora da Conceição * Colégio de Santa Catarina * Colégio de António Aurélio da Costa Ferreira * Escola Agrícola de Francisco Margiochi - polo do Arrife e polo da Paiã * Centro Educativo e de Apoio Social do Monte da Caparica And also as complementary services: * Provedoria * Centro Cultural Casapiano * Colónia Balnear da Areia Branca (Lourinhã) * Centro de Educação Ambiental e Cultural de Colares * Equipamento de férias do Arrife * Equipamento de férias da Matela

Sports

Casa Pia A.C. is Casa Pia's multisports club founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal. Its professional men's football team plays in

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. Besides football, Casa Pia Atlético Clube has competitive futsal, gymnastics, handball, hockey, karate, sport fishing, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling departments.

Scandal

Casa Pia de Lisboa made world headlines because of a major

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

scandal. Incidents reportedly began occurring starting in the 1960s, but were only revealed in 2002. Many prominent people were arrested, including Paulo Pedroso, (former

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

minister, with charges later dropped), Portuguese TV host Carlos Cruz and former ambassador Jorge Ritto, among others. As a result, the scandal and the

trial inundated public life with sordid child abuse stories, leading to a media circus from 2003 to 2005. On September 3, 2010, after one of the longest trials in Portuguese history Carlos Cruz (seven years), Carlos Silvino (eighteen years), Hugo Marçal (six years, two months), Manuel Abrantes (five years, nine months), Ferreira Diniz (seven years) and Jorge Ritto (six years, eight months) were convicted on charges of pedophilia and other crimes that had occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was the first time an institutional sex abuse scandal was taken to court in Portugal.

External links

Casa Pia
The Independent, 16 June 2003
PORTUGAL: New High-Profile Arrest in Paedophilia Scandal
Inter Press Service, May 22, 2003

References

{{reflist Children's charities based in Portugal Education in Lisbon

Sports

Scandal

See also

External links

References