He was ordained on 12 March 1949 in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. Upon returning to Brazil in 1951, he worked in pastoral ministry in Gouveia until 1957 and later in Curvelo until 1959. Between 1951 and 1959, Araújo was also chaplain to the 3rd Military Battalion of the Minas Gerais military police, professor of canon law at the provincial seminary of Diamantina, director of religious education for the Archdiocese of Diamantina, as well as a teacher in several local schools.