[2] The Azores, like all the islands and lands discovered during the Portuguese Age of Discoveries, began as jurisdictions of the Order of Christ, under the direction of the vicar of Tomar (Latin: vicarius nullius).

As the result of a petition by King John III of Portugal, Pope Clement VII created the Bishopric of São Miguel (São Salvador), but this patriarch died (31 January 1533) before a Papal bull was issued.

The request to Clement VII included the creation of two new Dioceses, one for the islands of the Azores and the other for the settlements established along the coast of Western African (or its frontiers).

A papal bull entitled Æquum reputamus, was issued by Pope Paul III on 3 November 1534, that reorganized the religious jurisdiction of the nascent Empire of Portugal in the lines of the original petition (retroactively to the original Clement VII bull): based on John III's petition and creating the Diœcesis Angrensis for the Azores.

[1] Since its creation, the Diocese of Angra has been governed by the following bishops: The episcopal see remains a suffragan of the patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Manuel Clemente, and serves the entirety of the archipelago of the Azores.