| Brazil
The
Vice-Province of
Our Lady Aparecida, Brazil
It is a sign of
divine omnipotence when good comes out of evil. When the French goverment began to supress
religious houses in France, our friars sent missionaries to Brazil. In 1904 Mons. Carlos
Luis D'Amour, Bishop of Cuiba welcomed Fathers Ambroise, Athanase, Aristide, Bonaventure
and Bro. Fedele.
On June 22, 1959, 10
friars of the Brazilian Commissariate dependent on the French Province of the Assumption
petitioned for recognition as an Independent Commissariate (ViceProvince). After reviewing
the situation, the General Curia established on April 19, 1960, that the Brazilian
Commissariate be dependent on the General Curia itself in accord with the experimental
period of 5 years directed by the Sacred Congregation of Religious before complete
autonomy be granted. The first Commissary Provincial was Fr. Luis Roberto Gomez de Arruda.
In 1966 he was ordained a bishop and named Prelate-Bishop of Guajara-Mirim until his
resignation in 1978. (In 1991, with the permission of the Sacred Congregation, Bishop
Gomez accepted the request of his friars to again serve as the Provincial.)
On March 14, 1966,
the General Curia established the Independent Commissariate (ViceProvince) of Nossa
Senhora Aparecida after receiving the required rescript from the Sacred Congregation on
March 8, 1966, The new Vice-Province had its provincial residence at the Convent of Our
Lady of Fatima, Mogi-Mirim and had responsibility for the Prelacy of Guajara-Mirim. At
that time, the Vice-Province numbered 17 professed friars of whom 2 were bishops, 8 were
priests, 5 student-friars and some 50 minor seminarians.
With a decree of
October 7, 1992, all the friars of the Order working in Brasil in the French and American
Commissariates were joined into the one Vice-Province of Our Lady Aparecida. Fr. Alain
Hervin was elected the first Minister of the unified vice-province.
100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE
THIRD ORDER REGULAR
IN BRAZIL (1904-2004)
AND THE PLENARY COUNCIL
OF THE ORDER IN MATO GROSSO
From the time the first French TOR
missionaries arrived in Brazil in 1904 three dioceses in particular have benefited from
the work of our friars: the Diocese of Caceres, guided from 1915 by the Servant of God
Bishop Luigi Maria Galibert, TOR, whose holy life awaits recognition and the beginning of
the process of canonization; the Diocese of Guajar�-Mirim, whose leader in 1931 was
Bishop Francesco Saverio Rey, TOR, the legendary missionary of Mato Grosso and founder of
the cathedral in the city; and, the Diocese of Borba, which received Bishop Adrian Veigle
as its first bishop in 1964. He was helped in his duties by missionaries from the Province
of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the United States.
It would be useful to reread the story of this
Franciscan period in Brazil as it is described by Bishop Maximo Biennes, TOR (the second
bishop pf Caceres), in his book "Missao Francescana na frontera".
In order to celebrate this occasion in a worthy
manner, the Plenary Council of the Order will be celebrated from July 11 to July 19, 2004
in Pocon�. The Council will deal with themes which touch our TOR Franciscan life and
practical matters dealing with the finances of the Order. |
