Aspetos da espiritualidade sacerdotal do Padre Lopes de Melo

: uma vida de serviço com os demais e para os demais

Abstract

This work deals with some of the most determinant aspects of the vital context, life and action of Father Lopes de Melo. Being a priest was the greatest of all the missions that he sought to carry out until the end of his life. At the beginning of the 20th century, Coimbra was experiencing a very troubled period, both in the public sphere, in the university sphere, and even in the ecclesial sphere. As will be seen, it was in the context of poverty that Father Melo learned what kind of priest the society and the Church needed him to be. It is from here that it will be seen that the greatest gift he possessed was to relieve his neighbor, whether this one was a university student, a soldier in the fields of Flanders or5a humble poor man in the streets of the Parish of Sé Velha. He knew how to develop, in an exemplary way, the qualities that made him a friend and neighbor to everyone, but especially those who, like him and in particular the “Criaditas dos Pobres”, were concerned with, or needed, the promotion of social justice: «goodness of heart, sincerity, strength and constancy of mind, zealous pursuit of justice, affability» (PO 3). In our present time so marked by individualism and indifference, it is pertinent to recall examples of entrusted surrender, both to God and to humanity.

Date of Award	14 Jun 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alexandre Freire Duarte (Supervisor)