In 1968, Brazilian priest Valdir Ros (1942–1994) founded the Instituto Estrela Missionária (IEM; the Institute of the Missionary Star) in Urubici in his home diocese of Lages in the southern part of the country. It was an organization devoted to promoting mission among non-Christians and providing education for future missionaries. The same year, he moved to the diocese of Nova Iguaçu in the Baixada Fluminense, part of the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan era, where he also became a pastor of the impoverished parish of Riachão. The seminar was founded with the support of the diocesan bishop. Still, the IEM had an unclear canonical status for a long time, but in 1977, it received the status of a diocesan pious association (pia unio). However, that was nothing compared to Ros’ vision: to form a Latin American congregation that would contribute to world mission, not a group devoted to local parish work.

Though the relation had not been unproblematic before, in late 1979, an irreconcilable conflict grew between Valdir Ros and the bishop of Nova Iguaçu Adriano Hypólito OFM (1918–1996). There were several reasons: political,  religious, personal–and medical. In conversations, private letters, printed books, and pamphlets, Ros fiercely attacked the bishop, accusing him of being a Jew, a Communist, a Freemason–and a demon. When the conflict reached one of its many peaks in 1981, members of the IEM, too, regarded Ros as severely ill, and he was confined to a psychiatric clinic against his will. By this time, he was replaced as the parish priest in Riachão, and IEM soon left the diocese to move to another part of the country.

Continue reading “New Research Report on Valdir Ros – Pedro II: The Pope of Nova Iguaçu, Brazil” →