Mozambique’s Cardinal will be buried in Maputo’s cathedral – AIM report

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Mozambique’s Cardinal will be buried in Maputo’s cathedral – AIM report

7:48 CAT | 01 Oct 2021

Cathedral.maputo.macauhub.15.11.2016.470-1

File photo: Macauhub

Mozambique’s Cardinal, Alexandre Jose Maria dos Santos, who died on Wednesday at the age of 103, will be laid to rest next Thursday in Maputo Cathedral, following a decision by the Archdiocese.

According to a brief statement issued by the Maputo Archdiocese, his burial will be preceded by a requiem mass, with his body lying in state, at which dozens of Catholic worshippers from several pastoral zones will pay their homage.

The farewell ceremony will be carried out in strict compliance with the health measures imposed to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alexandre dos Santos was ordained into the priesthood in 1953 and became the first black Mozambican Catholic priest. The Portuguese had landed on the Mozambican coast in the late 15th century, when Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, on his way to India. The Portuguese boasted of bringing Christianity to Mozambique – but it was 500 years before any black man was ordained a priest.

In 1975, dos Santos, who was a member of the Franciscan order, became Mozambique’s first black bishop, and between 1975 and 2003, he served as the Archbishop of Maputo. In 1988, Pope John Paul II appointed him to the College of Cardinals

Throughout his active years, the Cardinal was the most prominent Mozambican face of the Roman Catholic Church. He was instrumental in setting up the Sao Tomas University, based in Maputo, and also played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the signing of the General Peace Agreement in 1992 in Rome, ending the war of destabilisation that pitted the Renamo rebels against the Mozambican government.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, who described the late cardinal as a combatant of the world, said the country has lost one of her finest children who fought for an independent humanity regardless of social status, race or any other distinction.

“He demonstrated a highly patriotic feeling when he joined the peace process. He realised that brothers should never fight one another when their differences can be settled peacefully through dialogue,” Nyusi stressed.

Renamo leader, Ossufo Momade, said the cardinal was an outstanding clergyman who preached to build a fair society. “He fulfilled his mission with profound humanism”, he said.

Source: AIM