Love and Forgiveness in Governance: Exemplars: Archbishop Luciano Mendes de Almeida
by Ernest Ogbozor
Luciano Mendes de Almeida was a Brazilian Jesuit priest and Roman Catholic bishop. During his lifetime, he demonstrated immense love for children and the less privileged. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 5, 1930, to famous journalist Candido Mendes de Almeida and his wife Emilia de Melo Vieira Mendes de Almeida, he had his early education at Rio de Janeiro, and he also studied for priesthood in Brazil. He obtained his Doctorate in Philosophy from Gregorian University of Rome, and was ordained a Presbyter in Rome on July 5, 1958. After serving as Professor of Philosophy for several years, Pope Paul VI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of São Paulo in 1976. He also served in other leadership capacities during his lifetime, serving the church and his community.[1]
He died of liver cancer in 2006, at the age 75. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, "Almeida played a relevant role in the country's fight for re-democratization and dedicated his life for Brazil's poor."[2] He worked closely with the government to promote projects defending human rights for those less fortunate. He also wrote a weekly column for the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, Brazil's largest news publication, focusing on human rights.
Almeida will remain in the heart and spirit of every Brazilian child. He dedicated himself to build and strengthen the Children's Ministry, which is today one of the most important works of the Church; and thanks to which child mortality has strongly decreased in Brazil in the last years. He organized almost a hundred shelters for abandoned children on the east side of the capital of São Paulo; and as he slept at the most four hours, he could often be seen in the streets at dawn, picking up the children that slept on the sidewalks.[3]
According to UNICEF, Dom Luciano was a tireless advocate for human rights and for the rights of children and adolescents. Dom Luciano's kind and strong personality inspired several campaigns of immunization and the promotion of children's lives and health throughout Brazil, including the "child development and survival revolution" in Brazil.[4] Throughout his lifetime, Luciano demonstrated immense love for children and the less privileged. He is a successful exemplar of a leader that practiced love for humanity.
[1] "Archbishop Luciano Pedro Mendes De Almeida S.J. (1930 - 2006)." Find A Grave Memorial, n.d. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26435875>.
[2] "Luciano Mendes de Almeida, 75; Brazilian Defended Human Rights." The LA Times. August 29, 2006. <http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/29/local/me-passings29.2>.
[3] "Human Rights Violations in the Amazon Conflict and Violence in the State of Pará, Brazil." n.d. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/56552110/Human-Rights-violations-in-the-Amazon-conflict-and-violence-in-the-State-of-Para-Brazil>.
[4] "UNICEF in Brazil - Information in English." n.d. <http://www.unicef.org/brazil/english/newsline6.htm>.
