Alexandre José Maria dos Santos

His Eminence Alexandre José Maria dos Santos O.F.M.
Archbishop Emeritus of Maputo
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Maputo
See	Maputo
Appointed	18 September 1976[1]
Retired	22 February 2003
Predecessor	Custódio Alvim Pereira
Successor	Francisco Chimoio
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali (1988–2021)
Previous post(s)	Archbishop of Laurençco Marques (1974–76)[2]
Orders
Ordination	25 June 1953 by Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira
Consecration	9 March 1975 by Agnelo Rossi
Created cardinal	28 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	Alexandre José Maria dos Santos (1924-03-18)18 March 1924 Zavala, Mozambique
Died	29 September 2021(2021-09-29) (aged 97) Maputo, Mozambique
Motto	Servir e não ser servido ("To serve, not to be served")
Coat of arms

Alexandre José Maria dos Santos (18 March 1924 – 29 September 2021) was a Mozambican Roman Catholic cardinal. He was the first native cardinal of Mozambique.

The Coat of arms of Alexandre Jose Maria dos Santos, who was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Ecclesiastical career

Dos Santos was born in Zavala, Mozambique. He studied in Nyasaland and Lisbon before being ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1953, becoming the first black Mozambican to receive the distinction.[3] In 1973 he became the first African to run a seminary in Mozambique.[4] He was archbishop of Maputo, between 1975 and 2003. On 26 June 1988, he was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and given the titular church of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali.[5] He was instrumental in the peace process surrounding the end of the Mozambican Civil War.[3] He did not participate in the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, because he was over the age limit by then.

References

1. As the Archbishop of Maputo after it was renamed.
2. The Archdiocese became the Maputo archdiocese but it held as a different position.
3. Darch, Colin (2018). Historical Dictionary of Mozambique. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-5381-1135-2. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
4. Morier-Genoud, Éric (2019). Catholicism and the Making of Politics in Central Mozambique, 1940-1986. Boydell & Brewer. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-58046-941-8. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
5. Cardinal Title S. Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali GCatholic.org

External links

• "Santos Card. Alexandre José Mária dos, O.F.M." Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
• Alexandre José Maria Cardinal dos Santos bio

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Custódio Alvim Pereira	Archbishop of Maputo 23 December 1974 – 22 February 2003	Succeeded by Francisco Chimoio
Titular church created	Cardinal Priest of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali 28 June 1988 – 29 September 2021	Succeeded by Robert Walter McElroy