Sao Paulo – In one day, the Catholic Church on two continents lost two leaders to COVID-19. Both men were outspoken supporters of the church.
Brazilian cardinal Eusebio Scheid, 88, died in the interior of the state of São Paulo on January 13, after only a few days in the hospital with COVID-19.
Across the Atlantic in Scotland, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, of Glasgow, 70, died at his home, where he isolated himself after a positive test for COVID 19 shortly after Christmas.
Scheid, born in Santa Catarina in 1932, was ordained in July 1960 and served in the archdioceses of Florianópolis and Rio de Janeiro before retiring in 2009. São João Paulo II elevated him to cardinal in 2003.
“To remember this brother of ours is to speak of his dedication and concern for the formation of the clergy, as well as his encouragement for evangelization and the organization of pastoral care”, reads the note issued by the Conference of Bishops of Brazil.
Known for his frankness, Scheid will be remembered for the controversy with then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
After the death of Pope John Paul II, Lula da Silva organized a delegation to fly to the Vatican and expressed his wish that the new pope was Brazilian. At the time, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes was seen as a favorite for the papacy.
Scheid accused Lula of wanting to explore the episode politically and said that Lula “was not Catholic, he was chaotic” and that “he [Lula] and the Holy Spirit did not do well “.
Archbishop Tartaglia, ordained a priest in 1975, has served as leader of Scotland’s largest Catholic community since 2012.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our archbishop,” says the statement released by the Archdiocese of Glasgow.
“He was a major opponent of proposals to legalize same-sex marriage in Scotland and also criticized ministers about anti-intolerance legislation,” the statement said.
On January 14, retired bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld, Scotland, also died of COVID-19.