Eusébio Oscar Scheid S.C.J. (8 December 1932 – 13 January 2021) was a Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro from 2001 to 2009. He was raised to the rank of cardinal in 2003. He was previously Bishop of São José dos Campos from 1981 to 1991 and Archbishop of Florianópolis from 1991 to 2001.

Biography

Born in Bom Retiro,

Joaçaba Joaçaba is a city situated in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, with approximately 30,404 inhabitants. Located in 27º10'22" S and 51º30'03" W and 516.74 m above sea level, the city was colonized in the early 20th century by German and ...

, Brazil, to Alberto Reinaldo Scheid and Rosália Joana Scheid, he studied at the Dehonian Fathers' seminary; he earned a doctorate of Sacred Theology in

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

and was ordained a priest in Rome on 3 July 1960. He then taught

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

and liturgy in Brazil. On 11 February 1981,

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 ...

appointed him Bishop of

São José dos Campos São José dos Campos (, meaning Saint Joseph of the Fields) is a major city and the seat of the Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the same name in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. One of the leading industrial and res ...

and he was consecrated on 1 May 1981. Appointed Archbishop of Florianópolis on 23 January 1991, he served in that post for ten years before being named Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro and Ordinary for Eastern-Rite faithful resident in Brazil on 25 July 2001. He officially took over the diocese of Rio de Janeiro on 22 September 2001. In South America, Scheid also served as President of South Region IV of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference and Counsellor of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (as of 25 November 2002).

elevated Scheid to the rank of cardinal in the consistory of 21 October 2003, granting him the title of Cardinal-Priest of

Santi Bonifacio e Alessio The Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e(d) Alessio is a basilica, rectory church served by the Somaschans, and titular church for a cardinal-priest on the Aventine Hill in the third prefecture of central Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Bo ...

. In the months during which the health of Pope John Paul II was failing, Scheid spoke in favor of having an African pope, which many interpreted as support for

Francis Arinze Francis Arinze (born 1 November 1932) is a Nigerian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008 and before that led the Secretariat for Non-Chris ...

. En route to the 2005 conclave, Scheid told an interviewer that he did not think of Brazilian president President Lula as a "true Catholic", but rather "chaotic", since Lula self-identifies as Catholic but does not practice his faith. Lula responded that he was indeed a Catholic and that his relationship with God was of a very personal nature. Asked the same question, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes said that Lula was "Catholic in his own way"; Scheid declined to comment further. Scheid retired in 2009 from the see of Rio de Janeiro. After having dealt with age-related illnesses for a few months, Scheid died in São José dos Campos on 13 January 2021. He had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and been admitted to the hospital on 12 January with a possible case of

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 severi ...

Honors and awards

* Santos Dumont Medal (19 September 2002) * Honorary citizen of the

Rio de Janeiro State Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...

– conferred by the State's Legislative Assembly on 19 August 2002 * Aeronautical Medal of Honor (23 October 2002) * The Collar of Judiciary Honor – conferred by the Rio de Janeiro State Judiciary on 8 December 2002 * Pedro Ernesto Medal – conferred by the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

City Council on 10 September 2003 * Motion of Honor from the

Niterói Niterói (, ) is a municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro in the southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. It was the state capital, as ...

City Council, in honor of his Cardinalate, on 8 October 2003 * Vote of Applause from the

Senate of Brazil The Federal Senate ( pt, Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil, National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lo ...

, in honor of his being made a cardinal, on 7 October 2003 * Motion of Admiration and Congratulations from the Rio de Janeiro City Council, in honor of his being made a cardinal, on 30 October 2003

References

External links

*
Biography at catholic-pages.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheid, Eusebio 1932 births 2021 deaths Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian cardinals Dehonian bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Brazil Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo (state) 21st-century cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Brazil Roman Catholic archbishops of Florianópolis Roman Catholic archbishops of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro Roman Catholic bishops of São José dos Campos