Alexandre do Nascimento

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
See=Luanda (emeritus)|

Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento (born March 1, 1925) is an Angolan prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Luanda from 1986 to 2001, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983.

Biography

Born in Malanje, Alexandre do Nascimento studied at the seminaries in Banglas, Malanje, and Luanda before traveling to Rome in 1948 to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he obtained his baccalaureate in philosophy and his licentiate in theology. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on December 20, 1952, and then taught dogmatic theology at the Luanda seminary and served as chief editor of the Catholic newspaper "O apostolado" until 1956, whence he became preacher of the metropolitan cathedral.

In 1961, with the outbreak of the War of Independence, Nascimento was forced to enter exile in Lisbon. Whilst in Portugal, he did pastoral work, served as a counselor to the Movement of Teams of Our Lady, and studied civil law at the Classical University. Upon returning to Angola in 1971, he taught moral theology at the Pius XII Institute of Social Sciences, and served as an official of the archdiocesan curia of Lubango, secretary general of the Angolan Cáritas, and special assistant to students and former political prisoners.

On August 10, 1975, Nascimento was appointed the fourth Bishop of Malanje by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 31 from Archbishop Giovanni De Andrea, with Archbishops Manuel Nunes Gabriel and Eduardo Muaca serving as co-consecrators. Nascimento was Vice-President of the Angolan Episcopal Conference from 1975 to 1981, and was named the third Archbishop of Lubango on February 3, 1977. The Archbishop was kidnapped by guerrillas during a pastoral visit on October 15, 1982; he was later freed on November 16 of that same year after Pope John Paul II made an appeal for his release.

John Paul II created him Cardinal Priest of "S. Marco in Agro Laurentino" in the consistory of February 2, 1983. He preached the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Pope and members of the Roman Curia in 1984. The Cardinal and was appointed the thirty-fourth Archbishop of Luanda on February 16, 1986, later resigning this post on January 23, 2001.

Nascimento lost the right to participate in any future papal conclave upon reaching the age of 80 on March 1, 2005.

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-n.htm#Nascimento Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdonas.html Catholic-Hierarchy]
* [http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=44 Catholic-Pages]

Persondata
NAME=Alexandre do Nascimento
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Former Angolan archbishop
DATE OF BIRTH=31 March, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH=Malanje, Angola
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=