He was born in Zavala, Mozambique. He studied in Nyasaland and Lisbon before being ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1953, becoming the first black Mozambican to receive the distinction. In 1973 he became the first African to run a seminary in Mozambique. He was archbishop of Maputo, between 1975 and 2003. On 26 June 1988 he was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and given the titular church of San Frumenzio ai Prati Fiscali. He was instrumental in the peace process surrounding the end of the Mozambican Civil War. He did not participate in the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, because he was over the age limit by then.