He then served as private secretary to Archbishop João Batista Becker until 1933, when he began pastoral work in Porto Alegre.

[2] He was strongly opposed to liberation theology,[3] and denounced providing birth control pills to "uninformed, impoverished and unattended women" as "a criminal act".

[3] Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest of Nostra Signora de La Salette in the consistory of 28 April 1969.

In January 1980, he was stabbed and robbed by unknown assailants, who left him in a ditch outside Porto Alegre when he could not meet their demands for more money.

He was provedor of the Fraternity of the Holy House of Mercy until his death, he was also a member of the Rio Grande do Sul Institute of History and Geography.