Eusébio Scheid


Eusébio Oscar Scheid, S.C.J. is a Brazilian Cardinal Priest and Archbishop Emeritus of Rio de Janeiro.

Biography

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.
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.

Honors and awards

In the months during which the health of Pope John Paul II failed, Cardinal Scheid spoke in favor of having an African pope, which many interpreted as support for an eventual candidacy of Francis Arinze.
En route to the conclave, Cardinal 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.