(ANS – Vatican City) – Archbishop Antônio Emídio Vilar, Salesian, former Rector and Novice Director of the Mary Help of Christians Province of Sao Paulo, Brazil (BSP), has received the Pallium from the hands of Pope Leo XIV on 29 June.

The new Archbishop granted an interview to Vatican Radio, from which ANS has taken some passages in which he speaks about his new Archdiocese.

“São José do Rio Preto is the new Archdiocese. In fact, it dates back 25 years, when the Diocese of Catanduva was created. At that time, it would have already been possible to create the Archdiocese, but at that time, it was simply divided into two regions, Catanduva and Rio Preto, and each began to function with a certain autonomy.

“Today, we have many clergy, let’s say, around 130 priests, and we also help the Sister Church of Cruzeiro do Sul, in the Amazon. We also have the Missionary Institute, which helps in the mission, also in other places. Not only in Cruzeiro do Sul, with two priests, but also in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Missionary Institute. And then there is the St Francis of Assisi Fraternity, which has hospital boats in Amazonia. And also, let’s say, several hospitals and social workers to help people recover from drug addiction, or very vulnerable people being treated. And it is this fraternity, really, that is the richness of the Archdiocese.

“Then, we have several other expressions. In addition to the Cathedral, we have the Basilica of Our Lady Aparecida, built as a vow by Bishop Lafayette, so that the war of the Constitution (1932) would not reach there. So, he fulfilled the vow, dedicating the Basilica to Our Lady Aparecida. It is also an Archdiocese very attached to Fr. Donizete Tavares de Lima, who will soon be declared a saint. It is God’s Providence that connects things in our history. Many other realities of the Archdiocese we are getting to know little by little. I have been there for a little over three years, but it is something that is growing, not only demographically, but also in the structuring of the archdiocese.”

The complete interview, in Portuguese, is available on Vatican News, at this link.