Xaverians in Brazil

Our Presence

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Mass in the open in the fazendas of Brazil

We, Xaverian Missionaries, arrived in Brazil in 1953 in response to an appeal made by Pope Pius XII. The first areas of work were located in northern Paranà.  Our presence could be described as Gospel proclamation, spiritual assistance, and social-material-political betterment.  We opened seminaries in Jaguapità (1959), Londrina (1965), Laranjeiras do Sul, Sta. Mariana, Vila Diadema, Curitiba, and Sâo Paolo.

Today, we work in two areas: one in the south (Paranà, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais), and another in the north (Parà State).

In the North, in the Amazon region, there are 45 Xaverian Missionaries. The majority of them working in parish churches in Altamira, Abaetetuba, Xingù, and Belem, in the formation of Basic Christian Communities, Church leaders, catechists and local seminarians. Some others work in the promotion of justice and the defense of human rights in cooperation with various organizations. Still a few good bunch work in mission animation and vocation promotion, or some projects with the native Indians.

In the South, on the other hand, there are 59 Xaverian Missionaries. There we work on mission animation, vocation recruitment, and formation of young Brazilian candidates to become Xaverians.  We also respond to the needs of the local church in the parish of San Miguel Arcanjo, bairro Matao, Campinas, SP. These parishes cover vast territories, are densely populated, and affected by many social problems.

Our Novitiate is in the outskirts of Belo Horizonte, MG. Our Philosophy and Postulancy groups now reside in the same house, in Vista Alegre das Merces (Curitiba). Our secondary school students are in the seminary in Londrina, while the preparatory courses are still in the parish of the Imaculado Coracao de Maria in Piracicaba.

We are also present in the Council of Diocesan Missionaries in the states of Sâo Paulo and Paranà. We help in the formation of the mission animators. One of our missionaries is on the editorial staff of the magazine Missoes. In some parishes the Parish Missionary Councils have been set up and the Children's Missionary Movement too.  We have started publishing, with the Xaverian sisters, the newsletter "Familla Xaveriana" as a way of keeping in touch with our friends, to help them feel involved in our mission through prayer, material help, mission animation and vocation promotion in their own community.

Service, mission, work, news, and presence of the Xaverian Missionaries in Brazil