Antônio de Castro Mayer (20 June 1904 – 25 April 1991) was a Brazilian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Campos from 1949 to 1981. A

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...

and ally of Archbishop

Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar, Archbishop of Dakar from 1955 to 1962. He was a major inf ...

, he incurred automatic

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

for participating in the 1988 illicit consecration of four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X.

Early life

Antônio de Castro Mayer was born in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, to João Mayer, a

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

, and his wife, Francisca de Castro, a

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

. One of twelve children, Antônio helped his mother support their family after João died in 1910. At age 12, he entered

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

, then run by the Premonstratensian Fathers. He entered the

major seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in 1922 and then studied at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome, obtaining his doctorate in theology in 1928. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood by Cardinal Basilio Pompili on 30 October 1927. He taught philosophy, history of philosophy, and

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Chu ...

at the seminary in São Paulo for the next 13 years. He became Assistant General of the São Paulo's

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

in 1940 and a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the cathedral chapter with the title of First Treasurer in 1941. He became vicar general of the archdiocese in 1942. He was made a parish priest and the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of studies at the

Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (, PUC-SP), locally known as ''PUC'' or ''Catholic University'' ('), is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo. The university is ...

in 1945, while retaining the chairs of Religion and Catholic Social Doctrine at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Bishop

On 6 March 1948, de Castro was appointed

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Campos and

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 ...

of Priene by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. He received his

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

on 23 May from Archbishop Carlo Chiarlo, Apostolic Nuncio to Brazil, with Bishop Ernesto de Paula and Archbishop Geraldo de Proença Sigaud, S.V.D., as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. He became bishop of Campos upon the death of Bishop Octaviano de Albuquerque on 3 January 1949. He was very active in opposing liberation theology and communist infiltration of the Church and of his diocese. In 1956, de Castro opened the

Minor Seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

of the Diocese in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

, now the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, of São Sebastião de Varre-Sai. In 1967, Dom Antônio obtained permission to operate the Major Seminary, with

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

courses (later transferred to Campos). In 1968, the Catholic conservative group

Tradition, Family and Property Tradition, Family, Property (TFP; ) is an international movement of political/civic organizations of Traditionalist Catholic inspiration. The first TFP was founded by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira in Brazil in 1960, inspired by his 1959 book ''Rev ...

organized a campaign to collect signatures denouncing what were perceived as leftists in the Church. De Castro Mayer lent encouragement to the campaign. The Episcopal Conference of Brazil later declared that TFP was neither recognized by the hierarchy nor considered an official Catholic organization. De Castro, a staunch traditionalist, refused to implement the liturgical reforms of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

in his diocese. Until his resignation on 29 August 1981, the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

continued to be celebrated throughout the Campos diocese, along with all the other traditional Catholic practices and devotions in Latin. Having submitted his resignation as required upon turning 75, he was replaced as bishop with the appointment of to succeed him on 29 August 1981. He continued his campaign against the Council's liturgical reforms in retirement and maintained a traditionalist "diocese" within the Campos diocese, with around 40,000 faithful, which he organized in parallel chapels. The total Catholic population of the diocese was 890,000. With Archbishop

, on 30 June 1988 de Castro co-consecrated four bishops without papal authorization and incurred automatic

. He died of

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...

in Campos on 25 April 1991.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Antonio de Castro 1904 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian traditionalist Catholics Coetus Internationalis Patrum Deaths from respiratory failure Écône consecrations Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Campinas Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Traditionalist Catholic bishops Brazilian anti-communists Roman Catholic bishops of Campos