Henrique Soares da Costa (11 April 1963 – 18 July 2020) was a Brazilian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He served as bishop of the

Diocese of Palmares The Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmares ( la, Dioecesis Palmopolitana) is a diocese located in the city of Palmares in the Ecclesiastical province of Olinda e Recife in Brazil. History * 1962.01.13: Established as Diocese of Palmares from the Di ...

from 2014 until his death in 2020.

Biography

In 1981, Costa entered the Maceió Seminary and, in 1984, completed a bachelor's degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the

Federal University of Alagoas Located in the city of Maceió, the Federal University of Alagoas ( pt, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, UFAL or Ufal) is the major university in coastal state Alagoas and one of the main research centers in Brazilian north eastern region (one o ...

. From 1985 to 1989 he was a novice at the

São Bento Monastery The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat ( pt, Abadia de Nossa Senhora do Monserrate), more commonly known as the Mosteiro de São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), is a Benedictine abbey located on the Morro de São Bento (St. Benedict Hill) in do ...

, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and at the Trappist Monastery of Nossa Senhora do Novo Mundo in Curitiba. He returned to the Seminary of Maceió, in 1990, where he started the Faculty of

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. The following year, he went to Rome and completed theology at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

, with a master's degree in Dogmatic Theology. He was ordained a priest on August 15, 1992. As a priest, he was rector of the Nossa Senhora do Livramento Church in Maceió, from 1994 to 2009 he was a professor of theology at the Maceió Provincial Seminary and in the Theology Course at the Center for Higher Studies in Maceió; he was also a professor at the Franciscan Institute of Theology, in the city of Olinda, and at the Sedes Sapientiae Institute, in Recife. Costa was a member of the Presbyterian Council of the Archdiocese of Maceió, the Cabido Metropolitano and the Colégio de Consultores; he was also Episcopal Vicar for the laity and coordinator of the Political Formation Commission and responsible for the permanent deacons and for the archdiocesan diaconal school. On April 1, 2009, he was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

as Auxiliary Bishop of the

Archdiocese of Aracaju The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aracaju ( la, Archidioecesis Aracaiuensis) is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese in the State of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil. Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral (''Catedral ...

with the title of Acufida. He was ordained a bishop on June 19, 2009, by Dom

Antônio Muniz Fernandes Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

, Archbishop of Maceió. On March 19, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Palmares.

Illness and death

On July 4, 2020, Costa was admitted to the Memorial Hospital São José, in Recife, with a severe respiratory problem from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus. ...

. He accepted his situation well, according to his diocese, he was calm, serene and with a deep spirituality. Some time later, on July 18, he died at 57 years of age, victim of complications from the virus. His body, according to information from the Diocese, was taken to his hometown, Palmares. He was the third Brazilian bishop to die because of coronavirus.

Canonization

Days after Soares da Costa's death, Brazilian Catholics have called for an immediate initiation for his canonization process. Currently, he is a probable candidate for sainthood.2020 ''Hagiography Circle''
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References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy

Youtube Official Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Henrique Soares da 1963 births 2020 deaths People from Penedo Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Brazilian YouTubers 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Pernambuco Roman Catholic bishops of Aracaju Roman Catholic bishops of Palmares 21st-century venerated Christians