The night of December 8 was marked with great joy in the Church. In Irati, Paraná, Odair Miguel Gonsalves dos Santos received his episcopal ordination amid much excitement and enthusiasm. He will minister as auxiliary bishop in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The ceremony took place in the parish church of São Miguel, in Irati, the hometown of the newly ordained, bishop. He was accompanied by many of his family members and representatives of the Vincentian Family, including the National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Source and Photos: Diocese of Ponta Grossa

The celebration was presided over by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Porto Alegre and President of the National Conference of the Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), Dom Jaime Spengler. He was accompanied by Dom José Carlos Chacorowski, of the Congregation of the Mission, and Dom Sergio Arthur Braschi, host bishop of the Diocese of Ponta Grossa.

Bishop Jaime stated: “It has been a gift for us. We thank the Diocese of Ponta Grossa and, of course, the Vincentian Family”.

Among the many members of the Vincentian Family, the CNB was represented by a delegation led by the vice-president of Region III, Consocia Fabiana de Oliveira who said: “It was wonderful to see the ordination of a bishop of the Congregation of the Mission. We know that we will have in Porto Alegre a person who is already committed to bring Vincentians closer to the parishes and to make our charism spread throughout the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. As he himself has said, priests can and should be involved in this ministry and should also attempt to bring forth vocations. It is a day of celebration.”

Vincentian Committee with the new bishop of the Congregation of the Mission

The evening began in the interior of the main church with the profession of faith by the new bishop … a profession made in the presence of the other bishops, assisting priests, priests of the Congregation of the Mission (Leandro Maeski, Simão Valenga, Edson Friedricksen and Éder Fabrício Lourenço), priests and deacons. Afterwards, all went to a special area set up in the inner courtyard where Bishop Sergio greeted the archbishops, bishops, bishops emeritus from Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, as well as the priests and deacons. He extended a warm greeting to the brothers of Dom Odair (Ocimar and Odete). Jaime asked everyone to pray in silence for the new bishop and for all the families affected by the rains in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. About 3,000 people attended the celebration, among them the mayor Jorge Derbli and his deputy, Ieda Waydzik.

Recalling that Bishop Odair is the second bishop ordained in the diocese from the interior of Irati in recent years, Bishop Sergio considered it a great blessing: “That another son from this part of the country is called not only to priestly life, but to the episcopate is a great joy (the last two, Mário Spaki and now Bishop Odair, from the interior of Irati). Among the clergy, there is a saying that “Irati is a granary of vocations”. In fact, from these parishes (there are four in all) we have many vocations, many priests, and now these two bishops. We must not forget that we also have a large number of priests and religious who are vocations from families here in Irati. A great honor and so we give thanks today to God for this gift”, said the bishop of Ponta Grossa.

Since the news of the election of Bishop Odair as auxiliary bishop became known, the reaction in the city has been one of great joy on the part of the clergy, the religious and, above all, of the many men and women in this area population and throughout the whole diocese. Bishop Sergio stated: “When we received the news, we were about to begin the Assembly of the Bishops of Paraná, which was in Cornélio Procópio, and two days later, the Assembly of the People of God, the great moment of gathering all the dioceses of Paraná. I could not be there at that time, but it was really something special that brought a new enthusiasm to our diocesan church”.

Bishop Carlos Chacorowski, a member of the Congregation of the Mission like Bishop Odair, was very happy about his appointment, especially because now he will be able to share with him the responsibility in the province. “I am alone as bishop. Now I have a companion, a brother. Odair is our sixth bishop in the province. We have a beautiful history of bishops during these 120 years of presence of the Congregation of the Mission, sons of St. Vincent de Paul, here in the southern region of Brazil. Inácio Krause was the first, then Domingos Wisniewski, Dom Ladislau Biernaski, Dom Isidoro Kosinski, myself and, today, Dom Odair. This is a source of great joy. I am very happy that another colleague, a member of the Congregation of the Mission, is now part of the living force of the Church in the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil. Jaime, who was also appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, is here with us and it is a pleasure to see him again, to meet him again.

Program

The archdiocese is divided into four vicariates. It has almost four million inhabitants and 160 parishes. The new auxiliary bishop is already in Porto Alegre. After his ordination, Bishop Odair had celebrations on Saturday (December 9) in the chapel of St. Peter, in Guamirim, at 6 pm, and on Sunday (December 10) in the parish church of St. Michael, at 9 am, and at 6 pm, Mass for deceased relatives in the cemetery of Guamirim, as well as a series of confirmations in Porto Alegre, from December 15 to 22. He will also carry out an activity with missionaries and will return to Irati. In January, he will attend a course for bishops in Rio de Janeiro and, at the end of the month, he will return to Porto Alegre, where the celebration in honor of Our Lady of Navegantes will take place on February 2.

Fuente: https://ssvpbrasil.org.br/