Nineteen years later, on January 31 of 1533, it was elevated to the Archiepiscopal rank, becoming during twenty two years, the largest Metropolitan Archdiocese in the world, where it had the suffragan dioceses: Azores, Brazil, Africa and Goa. The first (and only) Archbishop was D. Martinho of Portugal (with the title of "Prime"). On July 3, 1551, a new restructuring of the dioceses of Portugal and it's empire, led to extinction of the Archdiocese of Funchal and it's return to Diocese. In 1570 was made a suffragan of Archdiocese of Lisbon (later Patriarchate), until the present.
Despite that, none of the first three bishops ever went to Madeira; only the fourth, Frei Jorge de Lemos, went to take personally the Cathedra of bishop.
Until the 20th Century, the bishops of Funchal used the title of Bishops of Madeira, of Porto Santo, of Desertas and of Arguim.