Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento died yesterday from illness at the age of 99, in Luanda, the spokesperson for the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), Bishop Belmiro Chissengueti, told Lusa.
Without giving further details, the Catholic bishop simply lamented the death of the Angolan cardinal.
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 degree in Theology, and was ordained a priest on 20 December 1952.
As a priest, he became a professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Major Archdiocesan 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 at 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 5 January 1983, his creation as a cardinal was announced by Pope John Paul II, in the Consistory of 2 February, in which he received the red biretta and the title of cardinal-priest of San Marco in Agro Laurentino.
Subsequently, Alexandre do Nascimento was transferred to the Archdiocese of Luanda on February 16, 1986, having directed 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, awarded at the Portuguese Embassy in Luanda, on July 19, 2010, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the Catholic University of Angola (2019).
In terms of works, Dom Alexandre do Nascimento has “After 15 years, a truly Eucharistic hour in the streets of Luanda: speech made at the end of the Corpus Christi procession”, “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”, “Of the man without faith – his possibilities and Limits – According to Francisco Suarez”.
In terms of pastoral writings, he has 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”.
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