January 31, 2011. Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo is the recently retired archbishop of Salvador, Brazil. However, he continues to be one of the most important cardinals in Latin America. Brazil has the largest Catholic community in the world. The country has a population of 195 million, out of which 162 million are Catholics. Despite these large numbers, the Church is facing some of the same problems that it sees in Europe.


Card. Geraldo Majella Agnelo
Archbishop Emeritus, San Salvador de Bahía (Brazil)
“In Brazil we have the same problems as everywhere else, people can be very subjective. Everyone thinks they have the last word. This relativism makes the relationship between people very difficult.”

He remembers John Paul II with a great fondness. Cardinal Agnelo was one of his principal advisers for eight years, as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. John Paul II appointed him as archbishop of Salvador in 1999, and then in 2001 as a cardinal.  The cardinal described the late pope's tireless work ethic, even during his later years when he became sick.

Card. Geraldo Majella Agnelo
Archbishop Emeritus, San Salvador de Bahía (Brazil)
“Towards the end, when I would visit him I didn't want to ask him too much, because it was so difficult for him to respond. I would speak to him but without asking for a response.”

Cardinal Agnelo also knows Benedict XVI very well, he even participated in the conclave that elected him to the papacy. The cardinal noted the Pope is a person that never complains, even when he is having difficult times.

Card. Geraldo Majella Agnelo
Archbishop Emeritus, San Salvador de Bahía (Brazil)
“I participated in the conclave in which he was elected Pope. He was a very calm person, full of joy, even during moments of hardship, he never complains.”

Cardinal Agnelo has been a priest for over 53 years, he just turned 77 and the Pope has accepted his resignation.  In his place he appointed Murilo Ramos Krieger as the new archbishop of Salvador.