João de Oliveira Matos Ferreira (1 March 1879 – 29 August 1962) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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prelate and bishop who served in Guarda from his appointment in 1922 until his death. He was also the founder of the League of the Servants of Jesus. The process for his beatification led on 3 June 2013 to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

declaring him

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as recognition of his life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

. The pope must approve one miracle attributed to him in order for him to be beatified; one such case is now under investigation.

Life

João de Oliveira Matos Ferreira was born on 1 March 1879 in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to Antonio de Oliveira Matos Ferreira. He had four brothers and one of those brothers was a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on 28 March 1903 and served as a personal assistant to the

Archbishop of Braga The Archdiocese of Braga ( la, Archidioecesis Bracarensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman R ...

. From 1920 to 1923 he was the Apostolic Visitor of Guarda. He was appointed as a bishop in the Guarda diocese on 11 December 1922. He was also made a

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

at the same time and received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

in 1923. He also went on to establish the League of the Servants of Jesus. Ferreiradied on 29 August 1962.

Beatification process

The beatification process commenced on 29 November 1993 in Guarda and the local process spanned from 1994 until 1998; the process was ratified on 13 November 1998. The

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

was then forwarded to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

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in 2008.

approved his life of

and proclaimed him to be

on 3 June 2013. A miracle attributed to him was investigated and the process of investigation closed at the beginning of 2010. It was ratified on 19 November 2010.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matos Ferreira, João de Oliveira 1879 births 1962 deaths Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians Bishops of Guarda