José Bezerra Coutinho

José Bezerra Coutinho (born February 7, 1910 in Capistrano , Ceará , Brazil ; † November 7, 2008 in Fortaleza , Ceará, Brazil) was a Brazilian clergyman and Roman Catholic bishop of Estância .

Life

Bezerra Coutinho studied from 1927 to 1933 Catholic theology and philosophy at the seminary in Fortaleza. He was ordained a priest on December 3, 1933 . After his vicariate in Massapé, Meruoca and São Benedito in 1934/1935, he was pastor in São Benedito from 1935 to 1956 and director of the Colégio Farias Brito and president of the Sociedade Cultural de São Benedito from 1953 to 1956. He was president of the Commission for Family Chaplaincy in the state of Ceará.

On August 4, 1956 he was by Pope Pius XII. appointed titular bishop of Uthina and auxiliary bishop in Sobral . The episcopal ordination received his José Tupinambá da Frota , Bishop of Sobral, October 28, 1956 Co- consecrators were Expedito Eduardo de Oliveira , Auxiliary Bishop in Fortaleza , and José Terceiro de Sousa , Bishop of Penedo . His motto was "Dominus Illuminatio mea" (The Lord is my light).

On January 28, 1961, Pope John XXIII appointed him . first bishop of the newly established diocese of Estância . He participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council as a council father.

Among other things, he was president of the Society of Faculdade Farias Brito and member of the Academy of Arts in Sobral .

Pope John Paul II accepted his age-related resignation on June 1, 1985. Until his death he was the educational director of the Colégio Academus. He died at the age of 98 from cardiac arrest; he was the oldest bishop in Brazil. José Bezerra Coutinho is buried in Fortaleza Cathedral.

Web links

• Entry on José Bezerra Coutinho on catholic-hierarchy.org

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Bishop of Estância 1961–1985	Hildebrando Mendes Costa