Lisbon

Lisbon is identified as a mandatory point on the authorized route for priests traveling to Japan under a papal order. Its significance in the passage is administrative and religious: access to Japan is made dependent on a prescribed journey through Lisbon, Goa, and Macao.

Role in the Papal Order

The order, formally agreed to by the King of Spain, required priests of every religious order traveling to Japan to go only by way of Lisbon, Goa, and Macao. It also forbade priests, on pain of immediate excommunication, from traveling directly from Manila to Japan. Lisbon therefore appears as one element in a rule that controlled not only the destination but also the permitted route.

Consequences for Missionaries

The order further directed all priests in Japan who were not Jesuits to leave for Manila at once. They could return only if their superiors wished, and then only by the authorized route through Lisbon, Goa, and Macao. The decree thus made Lisbon part of a broader system governing missionary movement, return, and religious discipline.