Aloísio Leo Arlindo Lorscheider, O.F.M. (8 October 1924 – 23 December 2007) was a Brazilian

Catholic cardinal A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

during the 1970s and 1980s. He was known as an advocate of liberation theology in the 1970s and was seen by some observers as a serious candidate for the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

in the two conclaves of 1978.

Early life and ordination

Lorscheider was of German descent, born in

Estrela, Rio Grande do Sul Estrela is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul References

Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul {{RioGrandedoSul-geo-stub ...

, Brazil. He entered the local

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

minor seminary of Taquari at the age of nine years. He began his novitiate in December 1942 and was ordained as a priest on 22 August 1948.

Professor and bishop

Lorscheider taught a number of subjects, such as German,

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, but it was not long before he went to Rome to study dogmatic

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. Lorscheider received his doctorate in 1952, and returned to Brazil to teach that same subject at the Franciscan Seminary of Divinopolis. In 1958, Lorscheider was called back to Rome to teach, and in 1962 made bishop of Santo Ângelo. Lorscheider attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

between 1962 and 1965, and he was named Archbishop of

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

in the northeastern state of Ceará in 1973. After the first meeting between Church and Freemasonry which had been held on 11 April 1969 at the convent of the Divine Master in

Ariccia Ariccia (Latin: ''Aricia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Central Italy, southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One ...

, he was the protagonist of a series of public handshakes between high prelates of the Roman Catholic Church and the heads of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Cardinal

As Lorscheider grew in popularity with his flock and his ability as a prelate was recognised,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

gave him a cardinal's hat in May 1976, becoming

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (English: "Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain") is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative ''martyrium'' ('martyry') built by Donato Bramante. History The Church o ...

. Although at the time he was the fourth-youngest cardinal in the college, Lorscheider already doubted his own health; however, some oddsmakers with

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The Ladbrokes portion of the group was established in 1886, and Coral in 1926. In November 2016, th ...

(who had him at

odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...

of 33 to 1) considered him a serious ''

papabile ( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...

'' in the

August 1978 conclave A papal conclave was held on 25 and 26 August 1978 to elect a new pope to succeed Paul VI, who had died on 6 August 1978. Of the 114 eligible cardinal electors, all but three attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Albino ...

. Lorscheider headed the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops from 1971 to 1978. He led the

Latin American Episcopal Conference The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (; ), better known as CELAM, is a council of the Catholic bishops in Latin America, created in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is based in Bogotá, Colombia. Early history From July 25 to A ...

in 1976. In 1995, Pope John Paul II named Lorscheider Archbishop of

Aparecida Aparecida is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is located in the fertile valley of the River Paraíba do Sul on the southern (right) bank. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The popu ...

in São Paulo State. He resigned the pastoral government of the Aparecida archdiocese at the beginning of 2004. It is also thought Lorscheider was one of the most vital supporters of

Albino Luciani Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal h ...

's rise to the papacy, and also of

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. In his youth, Wojtyła dabbled in stage acting. H ...

's in the

October 1978 conclave A papal conclave was held from 14 to 16 October 1978 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul I, who had died on 28 September 1978, just 33 days after his election. All 111 eligible cardinal electors attended. On the eighth ballot, the concl ...

. After the death of John Paul II in 2005, Lorscheider said that the European cardinals' "sense of superiority" would not allow them to elect a non-European pope. In poor health and ineligible to vote because he was over the age of 80, he did not attend the pre-conclave discussions at the

2005 conclave A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Joseph ...

that elected

Joseph Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

to succeed John Paul II.

Liberation theology

Lorscheider defended

Leonardo Boff Leonardo Boff (; born Genézio Darci Boff, ; 14 December 1938) is a Brazilian Catholic theologian, philosopher writer, and former Catholic priest known for his active support for Latin American liberation theology. He is professor emeritus o ...

when that theologian was brought to heel by Ratzinger in the 1980s, and continued his strong social activism, being jailed briefly in 1993 as a result of participating in a protest against government policy. With the crackdown on dissent in the John Paul II papacy, especially after Ratzinger became prefect of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

in 1981, Lorscheider found himself opposing brother cardinals whom he had been very firmly associated with during the papacy of Pope Paul VI. During his Church career, Lorscheider developed his outspoken stance on the appalling poverty that blighted the region. He believed that the Church was obliged to take a firm stand against this poverty and his hard-working and personable character allowed him to develop links with the poor that he observed to be lacking in previous generations of priests. He was a vehement critic of the

Brazilian military dictatorship The military dictatorship in Brazil (), occasionally referred to as the Fifth Brazilian Republic, was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against presi ...

and its

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

of political opponents, and favoured a flexible approach to church structure.

Death

Lorscheider died on 23 December 2007 in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

after a long hospitalization.

References

External links

Biography
*
Obituary in ''The Times'', January 14, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorscheider, Aloisio 1924 births 2007 deaths Brazilian cardinals Participants in the Second Vatican Council Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian Friars Minor Franciscan cardinals People from Rio Grande do Sul Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Brazil Liberation theologians Roman Catholic archbishops of Aparecida Roman Catholic archbishops of Fortaleza Roman Catholic bishops of Santo Ângelo Brazilian expatriates in Italy