Career
In 1955 he went to Portuguese Guinea as a missionary, where he dedicated himself to health and educational activities. He first started a leprosary in Cumura. After the independence of Guinea-Bissau, he was appointed the first bishop of the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Bissau, at 21 March 1977, being ordained at 19 June 1977.
He continued his missionary activity, working for the promotion at the human, social and religious levels of the Guinea-Bissauans.
In 1998, during the armed tension between President João Bernardo Vieira and general Ansumane Mane, he worked as the mediator. He died soon afterwards, before the end of the hostilities, at 26 January 1999, aged 74 years old.
His death was mourned as a great national loss. He was buried in the Bissau Cathedral.