He was born May 5, 1945, in Vila da Feira, Portugal, the son of Américo and Zulmira Gomes dos Reis and entered the Consolata minor seminary at Fatima in 1959. After completing his secondary school studies he went to Italy for his novitiate. In 1966 he consecrated himself to God through religious profession. He studied philosophy and theology at Turin and was ordained to the priesthood on April 29, 1973. His first assignment was the IMC seminary in Rovereto. In 1976 he was sent to Portugal to work in mission promotion initially and then formation. From 1983 to 1989 he worked in the Congo (ex-Zaire) missions. He came back to Portugal to become the director of the Pax Hotel. In 1995 he went back to the missions - Mozambique - to become the superior of the Regional House and later the pastor of Liqueleva.
His premature death came as a surprise to everyone. On the morning of Saturday, July 21, while overseeing work at Liqueleva he suddenly felt sick. Although it did not seem too serious he went to the hospital in Maputo where he spent the morning being examined and taking tests. He then left the hospital. Less than an hour later he suffered a massive heart attack that ended his life at the age of 56.
His funeral was celebrated on Wednesday the 25th - it was a moving demonstration of just how much he was loved in this parish: the interior of the church was packed and crowds stood outside. The Cardinal Archbishop of Maputo presided at the celebration. The Apostolic Nuncio and the Secretary of the Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Januário were at his side. Many of the city's priests and religious were in attendance as were our long-term friends, Dr. Eduardo Mulembwe, the President of Parliament and Dr. Brazão Mazula, the Rector of Eduardo Mondlane University.

We would like to cite a few passages from the many farewell messages that were read at the end of the Mass:
Children: "You have taught us how to live as a family."
Youth: "We thank him for the wise counsel he gave us and our parents during his Sunday homilies."
Legion of Mary Praesidia: "He refered to us, the Legionaries, as "mamma" (Mamã) and we thought of him as our Mozambican son. It is painful to lose a beloved son … We are sorry that you cannot be buried here in Mozambique."
Parish organizations: "The death of our pastor is an irreparable loss for us. His good works will never be erased from our memory. He was a great leader and advisor to the parish organizations."
The Parish Council: "A worker in the vineyard of the Lord has died, a man of faith translated into works. He was a man of few words … he was a friend of families - especially children."

Liqueleva is a suburban parish full of people and life. In six years Father Vasco gathered around himself and his assistant, Father Ernestino Venturi, a large group of lay people who worked with him in the apostolate . He shared work and responsibility with these people.
He was in the midst of a large building program: a multi-purpose hall, catechism classrooms, a library, social work areas. Recently he was planning a nutritional center for children. The Lord called him to Himself before he had a chance to carry out his last project for the welfare of his people.
His body was brought back to Portugal, to Rio Meão (Vila da Feira) his home town. His funeral took place on July 27. Father José Tavares Matias, the Regional Vice-Superior, presided. Sixty some priests concelebrated.
Father Manuel Tavares

LIQUELEVA - MOZAMBIQUE
Father José Salgueiro's Homily
We are gathered here around the altar in Liqueleva to celebrate the Eucharist and bid a final farewell to our beloved and respected Father Vasco. I would like to remember briefly some of the events of his life. I was his school mate in our youth, I studied with him, played with him and lived together with him.
Father Vasco was always balanced and faithful to the rules and norms of the seminary. His love for the Church and the Kingdom of God were evident in his dedication to work in Liqueleva. This parish was his great love; his constant concern was the welfare of his parish. He realized that Liqueleva was an enormous suburban parish that demanded enormous commitment and he showed himself up to the task. He was grateful for the work of his assistant, Father Ernestino Venturi, who had been his mentor in the 1950's. He was grateful for his parishioners, for all those who worked with him on the Parish Council, in teaching catechism and in the various other groups engaged in parish work and constitution.
Father Vasco was a missionary of conviction: he was solid, experienced, ready to face every challenge, happy with his life and his vocation. He was a man of simple faith that was translated into works.
He was a genuine friend of Mozambique to which he had dedicated his life. He sincerely loved his own country and was proud of his origins and his family.
It was God's will that I should assist him and hold him in my arms during the last minutes of his life. I was alone with him in the corridor where he suffered his heart attack and collapsed. In a futile attempt to keep him alive, I held his head in my hands and shouted his name: Vasco! Vasco! Vasco! He continued to breathe but said nothing.
Father Tavares ran to call a doctor who came in seven minutes - but Father Vasco was no longer breathing. He was dead. It was three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, July 21, 2001.
A little earlier at lunch he had said: "Yesterday I conducted a funeral and this morning when I felt sick the thought occurred to me that today could be my funeral." And this turned out to be the case.
He later said, "Sometime in November I am taking a vacation." "You're going on vacation," I said "when it is cold?" His answer was: "I have confirmations, the patronal feast and a lot of parish work - I won't be free until November."
Father Vasco's death was a great loss for the Consolata Missionaries; it was a great loss for his beloved parish in Liqueleva; it was an enormous loss for the members of his blood family.

Testimonial Family Members
Thinking about his time at Ermesinde working in formation we recall his concern for his students and his commitment to their formation. He rarely visited his family - usually his father and brothers went to visit him in Ermesinde to help him and bring something for his boys. This made him very happy.
When he came back to his home parish he was always willing to help the pastor with any work that needed to be done there or in neighboring parishes. His funeral at Rio Meão demonstrated the affection people of all these parishes felt for him.
His departure for Zaire was a joyous occasion. The whole family felt that this was his mission. He had a burning desire to go off and carried so many plans with him. His infrequent letters described the church he hoped to build and asked for assistance - his family sent him all the help they could. Only God knows how happy his accomplishments in Zaire made him, or how sad their destruction in war left him.
He accepted responsibility for Hotel Pax with enthusiasm. He really seemed cut out for this work. We witnessed his efforts and commitment to pull the hotel out of debt.
He left for Mozambique in 1995 with that same enthusiasm that had taken him to Zaire. He came home to Portugal in 1998 to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination and brought with him the plans for his new multi-purpose hall and the desire to make Liqueleva and Rio Meão twin cities.
He held meetings in local parishes and collected money and other gifts to bring back to Mozambique. He was completely involved in these projects and made periodic reports to those parishes on their progress. His letters and photographs were read and shown during Mass.
We were kept informed of the problems that hindered this work: floods and hurricanes that destroyed the foundations and roof of his building. He continued to work but was unable to complete his projects - the Lord called him to Himself.
The celebration of his twenty-fifth anniversary of ordination was a truly joyous occasion - all his friends and relatives took part. Some asked him to remain in Portugal and work in one of the many parishes that had no priest. His response was, "my vocation is the missions."

Life-long Friend
I first knew Father Vasco in 1970 when I was a young man. He received me into the Consolata Missionary Seminary in Rovereto.
He was a student of philosophy at that time and was doing his period as an assistant in a seminary that was full of very lively boys.
I remember his cheerfulness and his two great passions: football and stamp collecting. We had endless discussions on football and his example led many of us to become stamp collectors.
I met him again, twenty years later, when he was the director of the Pax Hotel and I was involved in vocation/mission promotion.
I went to Mozambique and we met again a few years later in the missions. We worked in near-by parishes: I was at Machava and he was in Liqueleva. We saw each other often.
Our friendship grew as we remembered the happy times together in Rovereto, and the work we did together as brothers.
Father Gianfranco Graziola