Rome Newsroom, Jan 13, 2021 / 13:47 pm
Brazilian Cardinal Eusébio Oscar Scheid, the archbishop emeritus of Rio de Janeiro and a theologian, died Wednesday afternoon after a long period of illness.
The 88-year-old cardinal was living in the city of São José dos Campos, where he was a bishop from 1981 to 1991. He was admitted to the hospital Jan. 12 after testing positive for COVID-19 and showing signs of pneumonia.
Scheid retired as archbishop of Rio de Janeiro in 2009 at the age of 76. The following year he also retired as the bishop of the Ordinariate of Brazil for the faithful of the Eastern rite, which he had led from 2001.
The ordinariate was established in 1951 to oversee Eastern Catholics in Brazil who do not have proper jurisdiction of their own sui iuris churches.