Luanda - “Angola has lost one of its most distinguished sons, a good man who devoted a large part of his life to transmitting values for a life of dignity, forgiveness and respect for others,” wrote the President of the Republic, João Lourenço on the condolences book for the death of Dom Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento.
President João Lourenço expressed these sentiments on Monday, in the Archdiocese of Luanda, where he paid tribute to the high figure of the Catholic Church, in the company of the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço.
“I share the certainty that the achievements of the servant of the Church and the Nation, who is now leaving us, will be perpetuated throughout the generations, as confirmation of the greatness of his career and the nobility of the general cause he defended throughout his life, that of spreading good.
“On behalf of myself, my family and the Angolan Executive, I convey my deepest sympathies to the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the bereaved family,” said the President of the Republic.
The ceremony in loving memory of Dom Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento, who died on September 28 of illness had been taking place since Sunday at the Sagrada Família parish in Luanda.
The urn remained on display in this church until Tuesday, followed by his burial in the Archdiocese of Luanda.
Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento died at the age of 99 and was the first person at this level to be buried within the Archdiocese of Luanda.
The ceremony also counted on the presence of the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, the National Assembly Speaker, Carolina Cerqueira, senior members of the judiciary, among other senior figures from the state and political parties.
Dom Alexandre do Nascimento was born in Malanje province on March 1, 1925, and studied at the seminaries in Bângalas (Malanje) and Luanda.
In 1948, he was sent to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy and graduated in theology, being ordained a priest on December 20, 1952.
As a priest, he became professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Archdiocesan Major Seminary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Luanda, and editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaper “O Apostolado”, between 1953 and 1956. He was Preacher of the Cathedral from 1956 to 1961.
On February 3, 1977, he was promoted to Metropolitan Archbishop of Lubango and Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Ondjiva.
On January 5, 1983, his creation as Cardinal was announced by Pope John Paul II. Alexandre do Nascimento was then transferred to the Archdiocese of Luanda on February 16, 1986, and led this region until January 23, 2001.
He was also president of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé between 1990 and 1997, and joined the Order of Preachers on June 5, 2015.
Throughout his career he was recognized with the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, awarded at the Portuguese Embassy in Luanda on July 19, 2010, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the Catholic University of Angola (2019).
Among the works written by Dom Alexandre do Nascimento are “After 15 notes a truly Eucharistic hour in the streets of Luanda: address given at the end of the procession of the body of God”, “Paths of Hope”, “How I read the Book of Ruth”,
“Intimate Diary and Other Writings on Piety”, ‘The Concept of Civilization and Its Incidences’, ‘Man without Faith - Its Possibilities and Limits - According to Francisco Suarez’.
As for pastoral writings, highlights include “The Angolan Constitutional Experience and the Justification of Fundamental Rights”, “Book of Rhythms”, “Meditations for the Holy Year”, “Little Book of Our Lady” and “On Beauty and Morality”. AFL/SC/AMP
