Damião António Franklin (August 6, 1950 – April 28, 2014) was an

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was the fifth Archbishop of Luanda.

Biography

Damião Franklin was born in Cabinda,

, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood in June 1978. On May 29, 1992, he was appointed

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of '' Falerone''. He received his

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

on the following July 12 from Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento, with Archbishop Eduardo Muaca and Félix del Blanco Prieto serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Franklin was later named Archbishop of Luanda on January 23, 2001. He also served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

of Angola-

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...

. He has lamented the corruption in his country, saying, "Much of Angola's wealth goes on weapons. Some goes on extravagance like this new presidential palace which is hardly ever used. Huge sums simply vanish, into private hands." In parallel, he was the Rector of the

Catholic University of Angola The Catholic University of Angola (''Universidade Católica de Angola'', UCAN) is a Catholic institution in Angola's capital of Luanda. On 7 August 1992, the government of Angola allowed the Angolan Catholic Church to establish its own university. ...

. Before the 2008 legislative election, the first election in

since the 1992 election that sparked the second phase of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the Archbishop stated, "The best way to avoid war is to do the elections in an unquestionably free, just and transparent manner. It is important for

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

to continue collaborating with churches with the view to sensitize the society for a greater turnout in the electoral process." He served as a secretary to Peter Cardinal Turkson at the special Synod of Bishops for

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

in October 2009. Franklin died on April 28, 2014.

References

1950 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Angola 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Angola People from Cabinda (city) Roman Catholic archbishops of Luanda {{Angola-bio-stub