Manuel de Matos e Silva Soares de Almeida, better known as Priest Matos Soares (?–1957), was a Portuguese

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, prefect and professor of the Seminary of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Seminário Maior or da Sé), Rector of the Chapel of Fradelos and parish priest of the Paróquia Nossa Senhora da Conceição in the city and

Diocese of Porto The Diocese of Porto () (Oporto) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal. History The dioc ...

, having been the promoter of the new construction of the Church. He was responsible for translating several works, notably the

Holy Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into Portuguese.

Bible translation

The main work of Fr. Matos Soares was the commented translation of the Holy Bible from the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

into Portuguese, whose first edition was published in 1932, with the help of Fr. Luiz Gonzaga da Fonseca, Professor at the Biblical Institute of Rome, with the other editions having been published in the years 1934, 1940, 1946 and 1952. The 1956 edition was the first edition in which the author translated directly from the

biblical manuscript A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see '' Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi- ...

s in Greek and Hebrew available in his day, resorting to the Vulgate when direct translation from manuscripts rendered the text obscure.Bíblia Sagrada, SEXTA EDIÇÃO, VERSÃO SEGUNDO OS TEXTOS ORIGINAIS. Pe. Matos Soares. TIP. SOCIEDADE DE PAPELARIA, LDA. Rua da Boa vista, 375. PORTO - 1956. Editions of the Bible by Father Matos Soares received

Imprimatur An imprimatur (sometimes abbreviated as ''impr.'', from Latin, "let it be printed") is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. The imprimatur rule in the Catho ...

from Dom António Barbosa Leão, Bishop of Porto, and great appreciation from the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, on the part of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, whose message of esteem from Cardinal Pacelli, future

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, can be found soon at the beginning of the translator's editions.

Modern reissues in Brazil

In 2019, Editora Ecclesiae published the re-edition of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

by Father Matos Soares, adapting the author's translation from the Latin Vulgate to the New Vulgate. In 2022, Editora Ecclesiae published the re-edition of the complete Bible of Father Matos Soares according to the original languages (1956 edition). Also in the same year, Editora Realeza, together with Associação Obras Católicas, published the re-edition of the complete Bible of Padre Matos Soares from the Latin Vulgate (first edition of 1932), adding the illustrations made by

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6January 1832 – 23January 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrati ...

for La Grande Bible de Tours.

Other works

Among the works of Fr. Manuel de Matos Soares, the following can be highlighted: • O meu Evangelho – Devocionário, Evangelho e Actos dos Apóstolos; 1933. • Biografia da serva de Deus Gema Galgani (Virgem de Luca: 1878–1903), traduzido pelo Pe. Matos Soares, 1923. • Ano Cristão (Pe. Croiset, S. J.) Devocionário para todos os domingos, dias de Quaresma e festas móveis, obra revista pelo Pe. Matos. • Obras de Virgílio anotadas por Ferreira da Silva e Matos Soares, 1918. • Manual de Eloquência Sagrada, 1925.

References

External links

História da Paróquia de Porto, com fotografia de Pe. Matos Soares.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Matos 1957 deaths Greek–Portuguese translators Hebrew–Portuguese translators Latin–Portuguese translators Translators of the Bible into Portuguese Portuguese Roman Catholic theologians 20th-century Portuguese Roman Catholic priests