Brazil Catholic Seminaries Ordain New Readers and Acolytes

On July 30, Bishop Edson Oriolo presided over a solemn Eucharistic celebration at the Cathedral of Leopoldina, admitting six seminarians to the Sacred Orders and instituting them as readers and acolytes. The ceremony concluded the Diocese of Leopoldina’s Week of Formation and Integration, a program that brings together the diocesan seminaries of Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Leopoldina) and Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe (Juiz de Fora). The newly admitted seminarians include Gabriel Vitor Cota de Barros (candidate for diaconate and priesthood), readers Paulo Victor Pires de Andrade and Thiago Carmo Toledo, and acolytes Davi Cascelli Schelb Scalla Pereira, Jonathas Moraes Camargo, and Pedro Henrique Araújo Filgueiras Carvalho Pessoa.

A week earlier, on July 18, Cardinal Orani João Tempesta celebrated the Mass of Institution of the Ministry of Reader at the Basilica Nossa Senhora de Lourdes in Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro. Thirteen seminarians from the São José Archdiocesan Seminary were formally instituted as readers, receiving the motto “The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to proclaim the Good News” (Luke 4:18). The cardinal highlighted the importance of the ministry for proclaiming the Word of God and called for prayers for peace in the city and the world.