Serafim Fernandes de Araújo (; 13 August 1924 – 8 October 2019) was a Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Belo Horizonte from 1986 to 2004. He was made a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1998.

Biography

Araújo was born in

Minas Novas Minas Novas is a municipality in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. In 2020, the population was 31,497 in a total area of 1,810 km². The elevation of the urban area is 635 meters. It is part of the IBGE statistical meso-region ...

, in the northeast of the Brazilian state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, and grew up in nearby

Itamarandiba Itamarandiba () is a Brazilian municipality located in the north-center of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population was 34,936 living in a total area of 2,736 km². Location The city belongs to the statistical Mesoregion (Brazil), mesoreg ...

. He studied at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Diamantina Diamantina may refer to: Geography Australia * Diamantina Bowen (1833-1893), ''grande dame'' of Queensland and the wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Queensland. * ''Diamantina Cocktail'', 1976 album by Little River Band * Diam ...

from the age of twelve, graduating in humanities in 1942 and philosophy in 1944, later continuing his studies from 1949 until 1951 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 ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he earned licentiates in

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 ...

and

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He was ordained on 12 March 1949 in the

Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

in Rome. Upon returning to Brazil in 1951, he worked in pastoral ministry in Gouveia until 1957 and later in

Curvelo Curvelo is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located in the geodesic centre of Minas Gerais, 170 km north of the capital, Belo Horizonte, and connected to the capital by highways MG 135 and BR 040. Its estimated popu ...

until 1959. Between 1951 and 1959, Araújo was also chaplain to the 3rd Military Battalion of the Minas Gerais military police, professor of canon law at the provincial seminary of Diamantina, director of religious education for the Archdiocese of Diamantina, as well as a teacher in several local schools. On 19 January 1959, Araújo was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

, with the

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Verinopolis, receiving episcopal consecration on 7 May of that year. He served as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais from 1960 until 1981, and participated in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

between 1962 and 1965. His ministry was focused on education and social communications – for several years, he was in charge of a daily radio programme entitled "" ('The Word of God'), broadcast by Rádio América, as well as of a Sunday television programme. Araújo participated in the general conferences of the

Episcopal Conference of Latin America Based in Bogotá (Colombia), the Latin American Episcopal Council ( es, Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano; pt, Conselho Episcopal Latino-Americano), better known as CELAM, is a council of the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America, created in 19 ...

held in

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

in 1979 and

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

in 1992; he served as one of three co-presidents for the latter conference. He was named the

coadjutor archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

of Belo Horizonte on 22 November 1982 by

, succeeding

João Resende Costa Bishop João Resende Costa, SDB was a Brazilian Roman Catholic bishop and a Salesian. He was the fifth Bishop of Ilhéus and the second Archbishop of Belo Horizonte. He was an attendee at the Second Vatican Council. Early life He was born in ...

as archbishop on 5 February 1986. From 1991 to 1995, he served a four-year term as Vice-President of the

Episcopal Conference of Brazil The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Portuguese: Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil, CNBB) brings together the Catholic Bishops of Brazil, as the Code of Canon Law, "jointly exercise certain pastoral functions on behalf of the fait ...

. Araújo was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 1998, and assigned the titular church of

San Luigi Maria Grignion de Montfort The church of San Luigi Maria Grignion de Montfort is a church in Rome, in the Primavalle district, on Avenue of the Montfort, dedicated to Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673–1716). History It was designed by architect Francesco Rom ...

. He retired as Archbishop of Belo Horizonte on 28 January 2004 and was succeeded by

Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo (born 26 April 1954) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of São Salvador da Bahia from 1998 till 2004, when he became archbishop of Belo Horizonte. In 2010 he also became bishop ...

. Araújo died on 8 October 2019 in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

due to complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Araujo, Serafim Fernandes 1924 births Participants in the Second Vatican Council 2019 deaths Brazilian cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Brazil 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Brazil Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of Belo Horizonte Roman Catholic bishops of Belo Horizonte Brazilian expatriates in Italy

Biography

See also

References