On Monday, the 25th November, the Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception of Brazil has the pleasant satisfaction of announcing that one of its members, Br. Samuel Ferreira de Lima OFM, currently Master of Novices in Rodeio, in the State of Santa Catarina, has been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Manaus (AM) by Pope Francis. He will collaborate in the ministry of Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner OFM, archbishop of the same city.
Br. Samuel was born on the 28th May, 1967 in the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). He is the son of Edite Oliveira de Lima and Francisco Ferreira de Lima, who currently reside in São João de Meriti, in the same state. He began his religious formation in 1987, becoming a novice in 1988 and professing religious vows for the first time on the 10th January, 1989. He therefore has 35 years of religious life in the Order of Friars Minor. On the 27th January 1996 he was ordained a priest by Msgr. Paulo Evaristo Arns OFM in the city of São João de Meriti, reaching 28 years of priestly ministry to date.
After completing his theological studies, Br. Samuel volunteered as a missionary in Angola, where he worked both in the parish mission and in the formation of vocations for the nascent Franciscan Foundation of the Immaculate Mother of God of Angola, dependent on the Province of the Immaculate Conception. He dedicated 11 years of his religious life and his ordained ministry to the service of the Angolan people and since then the passion and missionary affection for that country have never left him, remaining in his heart and mind.
He returned to Brazil at the end of 2006 and served in the formation of the Postulancy in Guaratinguetá (SP). In 2010 he arrived in Rodeio as Master of Novices, a service he rendered to the Province for 9 years, followed by a three-year period in another formative stage. In 2022 he resumed his role as formator in the Novitiate. Many friars had him as a teacher, enriched by his spirituality, vocation and passion for a life consecrated to God.
Now, Br. Samuel receives a new mission entrusted to him by the Church. Just as he gave his "yes" to service at the beginning of his formation – a "yes" renewed day by day – today he is asked again to collaborate in the leadership of the Church in Manaus. We have no doubt that he will contribute significantly to the ecclesial journey, uniting himself as brother and pastor with the faithful who will welcome him. We are sure that he will bring with him the Franciscan charism and enrich this new service with our spirituality. We believe that he will love people where they are and proclaim to them the Good News of the Kingdom, the same Gospel that he has chosen as his Way of Life.
May Brother Samuel be truly blessed in his episcopal ministry and, through the intercession of our Seraphic Father St. Francis, may he learn from the people of Manauara to be a good and holy bishop: prophetic in word and deed, paternal in listening and counsel, fraternal and companion on the journey towards the Father!
Br. Rodrigo da Silva Santos