Padroado

thumb|300px|Américo Ferreira dos Santos Silva receives the cardinal's red hat from King Luís I, in 1879 The Padroado (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and granted some theocratic privileges to Portuguese monarchs.

The Portuguese Padroado dates from the beginning of the Portuguese maritime expansion in the mid-15th century and was confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1514. At various times the system was called Padroado Real (Royal patronage), Padroado Ultramarino Português (Portuguese Overseas Patronage) and, since 1911 (following the Portuguese Law on the Separation of Church and State), Padroado Português do Oriente (Portuguese Patronage of the East). The system was progressively dismantled throughout the 20th century.