This Tuesday morning, the Sagrada Família church, in Luanda, was filled with celebrities to say their last goodbye to Alexandre do Nascimento. João Lourenço, accompanied by Ana Dias Lourenço, was one of the first to arrive and laid a wreath of flowers next to the altar, greeting members of the cardinal's family at the end of the celebration.
Likewise, the vice-president of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, was also present at the ceremony, as well as other members of the Executive, the National Assembly, Judicial and Defense and Security bodies, diplomatic, political, religious and society entities. civil society, as well as hundreds of faithful Catholics and other religions.
In addition to prayers, the funeral ceremony was filled with songs and messages from various personalities of the Catholic Church from various parts of the world, including Pope Francis. The leader of the Catholic Church, in his message read by the Apostolic Nuncio in Angola, Dom Kryspin Dubiel, considered the Cardinal a zealous good Samaritan, who worked hard in favor of the poorest and neediest. “Faith in Christ and hope in eternal life made him a courageous and free man, capable of guiding his steps for the common good, wrote Pope Francis.
In turn, the Patriarch of Lisbon, Dom Rui Valério, highlighted the way in which Dom Alexandre do Nascimento “knew how to look to the future and commit to preparing new generations, to build a more just society that promotes human dignity” .
During the homily, the Archbishop of Huambo, Dom Zeferino Zeca Martins, told those present that the deceased “dreamed of a truly prosperous Angola, rooted in sincere love and dignified respect, aware of the priority of the common good and confident in the happiness of all Angolans and all of humanity”. “Building a better Angola is a task for all of us. It is a task for each of us to build true peace, true reconciliation”, he added.
At the end of the Mass in which the Cardinal was present, there was the funeral procession, heading to the Cathedral, accompanied by hundreds of faithful, visibly dismayed, but despite the sad moment, they did not stop singing songs in honor of the deceased.
The ceremony of deposition of the urn in the crypt of the Cathedral was led by the Archbishop of Luanda, Dom Filomeno Vieira Dias, and accompanied by the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), as well as representatives of the Angolan authorities, family, faithful, friends , and journalists from various media outlets.
Dom Alexandre do Nascimento was the first Angolan Cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church. He was born in Malanje on March 1, 1925. He received Sacred Presbyteral Ordination on December 20, 1952 in the Diocese of Malanje and was appointed bishop of the same Diocese on August 10, 1975, by Pope Paul VI. The Cardinal died of illness on September 28, in Luanda, at the age of 99.
