| | | | Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. It covers an area of 8.5 million square kms and has a population of 170 million. It has borders with every country in South America except Chile and Ecuador. Portuguese is the official language.
The 1960's saw Kiltegan Missionaries take on their first assignment outside Africa. In 1962 they went to Brazil , to a people with a long tradition of Christianity but a short supply of priests. In response to Pope John XXIII's pleas for priests in Latin America, the Kiltegan priests went to assist in Sao Paulo (then the world's fastest-growing city) and later in other Brazilian dioceses. Their primary work was with the poverty-stricken people of the shanty towns; firm bonds of friendship were soon forged in a land where community action is a feature of Christian living. |
Today there are eighteen Kiltegan Missionaries working in Brazil. Our missionary service continues to be mainly with the poor and the marginalised. Tony Terry (Cork City) is in Brazil since 1962 and he ministers to the street children of Recife in the North East of the country. Jim Crowe (Co Clare) is parish priest of Santos Martires on the outskirts of Sao Paulo; he has worked tirelessly on initiatives to promote peace and justice in an area which was once dubbed the most violent place in the world. Tommy Scott (Dublin City) works with the sick and has made ministry to AIDS victims the principal focus of his priesthood.
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From August 2005 to June 2006 we were joined by three Nigerian student-members who came here on their First Missionary Assignment in the Diocese of Juina in Mato Grosso State. Patrick Aleke(Abakaliki) and Richard Filima (Port Harcourt) were on mission with Paudie Moloughney( Co Tipperary)in Juruena and James Ashi Undelikwo(Minna) worked with Derek Byrne (Dublin) at Castanheira
In 2004 Kiltegan Missionaries received their first Brazilian candidates, all from Sao Paulo. They completed their programme of Initial Formation in December 2005. In January 2006 Jose Carlos Alves dos Santos joined our students at kwaPatrick in South Africa to commence his studies in philosophy. We look forward to the new life and energy he and future Brazilian members will bring to our Society.
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|  | | |  | Young people are the back bone of most
Christian communities in Brazil |
| | |  | | Sacramentina Sisters Creuza and Donaria along with St Patrick's Father Derek Byrne are part of the parish team at Castanheira, Mato Grosso, Brazil |
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| Help us make this a better world by working to further God's Reign |
