The friars of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Brazil are doing important missionary work in the cities of Tefé and Juruá, both located in Brazil’s Amazonas state.
The Friars Minor Conventual have been active in this mission since 2005, when the Most Reverend Agostinho Stefan JANUSZEWICZ, OFM Conv., Bishop Emeritus of Luziânia, Goias, Brazil, arrived in Juruá and began to carry out missionary service together with other confreres.
In 2009, the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Brazil celebrated an Extraordinary Chapter where it accepted a mission in the Prelature of Tefé. The pastoral ministry there was carried out on two fronts, namely, at the Parish Church of Nossa Senhora de Fátima in Juruá and the Parish Church of Santo Antônio de Pádua in Tefé. Both parishes are the starting point for doing missionary work by boat in order to serve the river peoples who live deeper in the Amazon region.
In addition to caring for the parishes, the friars’ mission includes serving hundreds of families in more rural areas. It is, in fact, a very challenging reality given the current religious, cultural and social framework of our day.
The confreres serving in Juruá are Friars Francisco FERREIRA SILVA and Antônio Maria DOS SANTOS JÚNIOR. The confreres serving in Tefé are Friars Givaldo BATISTA DA SILVA, Carlos ALVES DE OLIVEIRA and Paulo ARANTES RODRIGUES. All are performing their pastoral and social ministry with attention and care, despite this period of pandemic.
Friar Gilberto DE JESUS RODRIGUES, Minister Provincial
