We received with great sadness the news of the death of Emeritus Archbishop of Huambo, Dom Francisco Viti, who died Saturday 15 April 2023 at the Cardio-Pulmonary Complex Hospital Cardinal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento in Luanda.
The 89-year old Catholic leader had been fighting for his life since February after suffering a car accident, when the car he was driving overturned, while he was returning from a pastoral mission he performed in the South-Eastern Cuando Cubango Province. In the accident, he suffered serious injuries and was immediately transferred to the Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento Cardio-Pulmonary Hospital Complex, where he underwent cranial surgery two days later.
Archbishop Viti was born in Misasa – Evanga, Benguela Province, on August 15, 1933. He went to Minor Seminary of Quipeio, also known as Minor Seminary of Caála and at the Major Seminary of Cristo Rei in Huambo, with courses in Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained priest on July 14, 1963, in the Cathedral of Huambo and consecrated Archbishop on September 28, 1975, in Huambo. Founder of the Menongue diocese, where he worked for 11 years, he was then, in September 1986, named archbishop of Huambo, where he worked for 17 years.
The archbishop, who holds the title of second archbishop with more time in the archdiocese of Huambo and the sixth to be consecrated in the new era of episcopate in Angola, was rector of the Major Seminary of Cristo Rei in Huambo.
He studied Philosophy in the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pastoral Theology, from the Catholic University of Paris. Archbishop Viti he had been a member of the Standing Committee of the Inter Regional Meeting of Bishops of the Southern Africa (IMBISA) as a delegate of the Angola and São Tomé Episcopal Conference (CEAST).
As the IMBISA Region we pray that the servant of God Archbishop Emeritus Francisco Viti be granted eternal rest in the kingdom of God which he preached throughout his life.