Luanda - Catholic Cardinal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento died today in Luanda victim of illness, at the age of 99, ANGOP learned.
Alexandre do Nascimento was born in the province of 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 20 December 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, and served as Preacher of the Cathedral, from 1956 to 1961.
On August 10, 1975 he was appointed bishop of Malanje, being ordained on August 31, 1975, in the Cathedral of Luanda,
On February 3, 1977 he was promoted to Metropolitan Archbishop of Lubango and apostolic administrator ad nutum Sanctæ Sedis of the Diocese of Ondjiva.
On January 5, 1983, his creation as a Cardinal was announced by Pope John Paul II, in the Consistory of February 2, in which he received the red hat and the title of Cardinal-Priest of San Marcos in Agro Laurentino.
Subsequently, Alexandre do Nascimento was transferred to the Archdiocese of Luanda on February 16, 1986, having 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 on June 5, 2015 he joined the Order of Preachers.
Throughout his career he was recognized with the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, delivered at the Portuguese Embassy in Luanda, on July 19, 2010, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the Catholic University of Angola (2019).
Dom Alexandre do Nascimento has works such as 'After 15 years, a truly Eucharistic hour in the streets of Luanda: allocution made 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 of piety', 'On the Concept of Civilization and its Incidences', 'On man without faith – its possibilities and Limits – According to Francisco Suarez'.
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 the beautiful and the Moral', are other writings of Dom Alexandre do Nascimento. OHA/DOJ
