At 99, Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento may have lived to a ripe old age. But Angola is in mourning, mainly because he had lived through most of the country’s troubles, making him Africa's oldest cardinal.
He died in Luanda on Saturday after a short illness. And everyone from ordinary churchgoers to politicians paid their tribute to a man who had become the first cardinal in Angola’s history.
State-owned daily newspaper Jornal de Angola depicted his vocational trajectory as linked to the political journey of the country under colonial rule, marked by the struggle for national liberation until independence.
The Catholic Church in Angola said that it intends to hold a funeral in honour of this noble figure of the country.
According to the programme, the funeral will be held on Tuesday October 8, with a mass at 9.30 am, followed by his burial in Luanda Cathedral in the Upper Town.
President João Lourenço said he was saddened by the cardinal's death and added that Angola had lost one of its most distinguished sons.
“He was a good man, who devoted a large part of his life to passing on values and principles for a life of dignity, forgiveness and respect for others,” President Lourenço wrote in a message of condolence.
For the country’s main opposition party, Unita, throughout his life, Nascimento played an important role in remarkable moments of its history, being recognised for his dedication to the causes he embraced.
“His legacy of service and commitment as a pastor and teacher will live on among us,” Unita’s leader Adalberto Costa Júnior said.
In the Roman Catholic Church, he was one of the last prelates who helped lead the African church into the new millennium, according to a dispatch from the Vatican.
Facing danger
But that was not a smooth path. The Vatican remembered him as a man who faced danger during his service, especially on October 15, 1982, when “he was kidnapped during a pastoral visit by a group of armed men, who released him on November 16.
“Pope St John Paul II had appealed for his release, during the Angelus on Sunday, October 31.”
In a message addressed to the Archbishop of Luanda, Dom Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira, Pope Francis said he shares his “sorrow with the Angolan clergy, religious communities, and all the faithful of the archdiocese, as well as with the cardinal’s family members.”
“His faith in Christ and hope in eternal life made him a courageous and free man, capable of directing his steps for the common good, including collaborating with this Apostolic See in his zeal for the poor and needy, as he guided the direction of Caritas Internationalis,” Pope Francis said on Monday.
He remains associated with the political community, the establishment of the Catholic University of Angola, the reopening of Rádio Ecclesia, the Angolan Catholic Broadcaster.
Rádio Ecclesia began its daily broadcasts on March 19, 1955. It was confiscated in 1977 and reopened in 1997.
“He played a mediating role during the Angolan civil war, which began in 1975 after independence and continued until 2002,” Celso Malavoloneke, who describes himself as his spiritual son, in a televised debate on Sunday.
Both sides of the armed conflict knew how to listen to him, Mr Malavoloneke also said.
Early life
Born in Malanje Province on March 1, 1925, he became one of the most prominent and influential leaders of the Catholic Church in Angola. At the time of his death, preparations were already underway for the centenary celebrations.
In 1948, he was sent to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he completed a bachelor’s degree in theology and obtained a diploma in philosophy.
He was ordained a priest in December 1952.
Soon after, he became a 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.
Three months prior to the country's independence from Portugal, in August 1975, he was elevated to bishop.
In 1983, he was ordained a cardinal by Pope John Paul II and was admitted to the College of Cardinals and became the world president of the Catholic charity organisation Caritas until 1991.
According to its website, Caritas shares the mission of the Catholic Church to serve the poor and to promote charity and justice throughout the world.
He was Archbishop of Luanda from 1986 to 2001 and was also the head of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe (Ceast) between 1990 and 1997.
“Even in his old age, he never failed to remind us of this detail, to love Angola and the Angolans,” said Archbishop José Manuel Imbamba, the president of Ceast.
He was archbishop emeritus of Luanda and took part in the conclaves to elect Pope Benedict XVI (in 2005) and Pope Francis (in 2013), but was not entitled to vote due to his age, having lost his right to attend conclaves at the age of 80, on March 1, 2005.
In August, the Catholic Church in Angola celebrated the 50th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of the man who wrote more than eleven books.
“May he rest in peace with his heavenly Father, and may his example continue to inspire us all. Your memory will live on in our hearts and prayers,” Mr João Rombas, an active member of the Catholic Church in Angola, wrote on his Facebook page.
