Luanda – President João Lourenço on Tuesday laid a wreath at the urn of Dom Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento, who died in the country's capital, Luanda, on September 28 at the age of 99 due to illness.
Accompanied by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço, the Head of State took part in the funeral service held at Sagrada Família Parish.
During the three-hour ceremony led by the Luanda Archbishop, Dom Filomeno Vieira Dias, who recalled the achievements of the Cardinal, who dedicated most of his life to the priesthood.
Messages from religious institutions of the Catholic Church in the country and abroad were read at the ceremony in honor of Dom Alexandre Cardeal o Nascimento, who, due to his national and international dimension, is considered an icon of history, a nationalist, a patriot, a convinced Christian, a cultured man and a friend of the poor.
Following this ceremony, the urn went to the Archdiocese of Luanda to be buried on Tuesday afternoon.
The religious ceremony was attended by the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, government officials, representatives of churches in Angola and abroad, political parties and the Catholic believers.
The religious leader was the only Cardinal of Angola and the first of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé. He was born in Malanje on March 1, 1925 and studied at the seminaries of 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 a licentiate in theology, and was 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 appointed as 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 Cardeal do Nascimento was 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 19 July 2010, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the Catholic University of Angola (2019). AFL/VIC/AMP
