Styles of Eusébio Scheid |
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---|---|
Reference style | His Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
See | Rio de Janeiro |
Eusébio Oscar Scheid, S.C.J. (born 8 December 1932) is a Brazilian Cardinal Priest and Archbishop Emeritus of Rio de Janeiro.
Born in Bom Retiro, Joaçaba, 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 and was ordained a priest in Rome on 3 July 1960. He taught dogmatic theology and liturgy in Brazil until on 11 February 1981 he was appointed Bishop of São José dos Campos and 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).
Pope John Paul II elevated Scheid to the Cardinalate in the consistory of 21 October 2003, the last one held by the late pope, granting him the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio (Sts. Boniface and Alexis).
In the months during which the health of Pope John Paul II failed, Cardinal Scheid, despite being a known conservative, spoke in favor of having an African pope, which many interpreted as support for an eventual candidacy of Francis Arinze. At the conclave, however, although he has not revealed the inner workings of it, many believe that he might have changed his mind and supported Joseph Ratzinger's candidacy.