The Jesuit prelate died Aug. 27, 2006. Now five years later, the nation’s bishops announced at their 49th general assembly that the cause for his beatification will begin this coming August in the Brazilian archdiocese of Mariana.
Luciano Mendes de Almeida was born Oct. 5, 1930, in San Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro. He was ordained a priest of the Society of Jesus in 1958. In 1976 he was appointed auxiliary archbishop of São Paulo.
He was archbishop of Mariana for 18 years, from 1988 to 2006, and secretary and president of the Brazilian Episcopal Conference.
