Alexandre José Maria dos Santos

Alexandre José Maria dos Santos (18 March 1918 – 29 September 2021) was a Mozambican Roman Catholic cardinal. He was the first native cardinal of Mozambique.

The Coat of arms of Alexandre Jose Maria dos Santos, who was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

His Eminence Alexandre José Maria dos Santos O.F.M.
Archbishop Emeritus of Maputo
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Maputo
See	Maputo
Appointed	18 September 1976[1]
Retired	22 February 2003
Predecessor	Custódio Alvim Pereira
Successor	Francisco Chimoio
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali (1988–2021)
Previous post(s)	Archbishop of Laurençco Marques (1974–76)[2]
Orders
Ordination	25 June 1953 by Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira
Consecration	9 March 1975 by Agnelo Rossi
Created cardinal	28 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	Alexandre José Maria dos Santos (1918-03-18)18 March 1918 Zavala, Mozambique
Died	29 September 2021(2021-09-29) (aged 103) Maputo, Mozambique
Motto	Servir e não ser servido ("To serve, not to be served")
Coat of arms

Ecclesiastical career

Dos Santos was born in Zavala, Mozambique. He studied in Nyasaland and Lisbon before being ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1953, becoming the first black Mozambican to receive the distinction.^[3] In 1973 he became the first African to run a seminary in Mozambique.^[4] He was archbishop of Maputo, between 1975 and 2003. On 26 June 1988, he was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and given the titular church of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali.^[5] He was instrumental in the peace process surrounding the end of the Mozambican Civil War.^[3] He did not participate in the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, because he was over the age limit by then.