António Ribeiro

Who was António Ribeiro?

Dom António II Ribeiro was a Portuguese Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who was Patriarch of Lisbon from 1971 until his death in 1998.

Born at São Clemente de Basto, Celorico de Basto, son of José Ribeiro and wife Ana Gonçalves, both from the same location, Ribeiro was ordained as a priest on 5 July 1953 in Braga. On 3 July 1967 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Braga and Titular Bishop of Tigillava, and was ordained a bishop on 17 September.

Ribeiro graduated with a degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome and lectured in the Superior Institute of Catholic Culture. His doctoral thesis, written in 1959, was The Doctrine of Errors in Saint Thomas Aquinas. During the 1960s he continued his studies in Braga and was made member of such institutions as the Superior Institute of Social and Political Sciences. He also attended the Theological Faculties of Innsbruck and Munich.

Meanwhile, in 1960 he also began to appear in television with a program called Dia do Senhor, and collaborated with several religious magazines and newspapers, beyond his own publications.