Bishop D. Fernando Paiva presides over the funeral of D. António Vitalino Dantas

Bishop Fernando Paiva presided over the funeral of António Vitalino Dantas, the emeritus bishop of Beja, on Saturday, October 10. The funeral mass took place at the parish of Parada de Gatim in the Archdiocese of Braga, the home region of the deceased.

Dantas died at the age of 84 on Friday, October 9, at the Hospital de Braga. During his homily, Bishop Paiva thanked his predecessor for his service to the Diocese of Beja and prayed that the work Dantas performed would yield abundant fruit.

Dantas served as the bishop of Beja from 1999 to 2016. He was previously appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Lisbon in 1996. Born in Oleiros, Vila Verde, he was ordained a priest on August 3, 1968, and received episcopal ordination on September 29, 1996, at the Jerónimos Church in Lisbon.