Mozambique: Process of the ‘Chapotera martyrs’ reaches the Vatican

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Mozambique: Process of the ‘Chapotera martyrs’ reaches the Vatican

4:05 CAT | 27 Sep 2023

Photo: Diocese de Tete / Facebook

The Vatican is analysing the canonization of priests Silvio Alves Moreira and João de Deus Gonçalves Kamtedza, the Portuguese and Mozambican Jesuit missionaries murdered in 1985 and known as the “martyrs of Chapotera”, the bishop of Tete announced today.

According to Bishop Diamantino Guapo Antunes, the process began on Tuesday at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints with the opening of “boxes with documents from the Diocesan Inquiry into the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Martyrs of Chapotera, João de Deus Kamtedza [Mozambican] and Silvio Moreira [Portuguese].

The bishop added that the process will now undergo “a serious examination by historical and theological consultants who will give an opinion and a vote on the merits of the case”, which will then be “submitted to the judgement of a commission of Cardinals and Bishops”.

“If this commission gives a positive vote, the Holy Father will then promulgate the decree of martyrdom and will declare João de Deus Gonçalves Kamtedza and Silvio Alves Moreira blessed ‘Servants of God’, worthy of liturgical and public worship,” explained the bishop, who is in the Vatican monitoring the process, whose consideration was concluded by the diocese of Tete, central Mozambique, on August 12th.

Father Silvio Alves Moreira was born in Portugal, and Father João de Deus Gonçalves Kamtedza was the son of a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother. Both were murdered “out of hatred for the faith” on October 30, 1985, near the missionary residence in Chapotera, Tete province, where they carried out their religious mission.

“The reputation for martyrdom led the diocese of Tete to begin the beatification and canonization process on November 20, 2021, with the oath of the members of the commission of inquiry appointed by the diocesan bishop,” the institution has previously indicated.

The Tete diocesan commission responsible for the canonization process up until June 2020 questioned witnesses who knew the two missionaries and collected “information about their martyrdom and reputation for martyrdom”.

READ: Mozambique: Tete to begin diocesan phase for beatification of Jesuit priests

Father Silvio Alves Moreira was born in Rio Meão, Feira, in Portugal, on April 16, 1941, entering the Jesuit seminary in 1952 and professing his vows in 1959. He attended the theology course at the Catholic University of Lisbon between 1968 and 1972 and was ordained a priest in Covilhã on July 30, 1972. The Portuguese missionary began his work in Mozambique at the Zobuè seminary in the diocese of Tete, then headed to the parish of Matundo.

Father João de Deus Gonçalves Kamtedza, son of a Portuguese father and Mozambican mother, was born in Angónia, Tete province on March 8, 1930, and entered the Jesuit seminary in 1948, professing his religious vows in 1953 in Braga. He was ordained a priest in the Lifidzi mission, Tete, on August 15, 1964.

Source: Lusa