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Joao Braz de AvizBrazilian cardinal and Vatican curial dignitary
Date of Birth: 24.04.1947
Country:  Brazil |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Priestly Ministry
- Episcopal Career
- Bishop of Ponta Grossa
- Archbishop of Maringá and Brasília
- Curial Appointment
- Cardinalate
- Consistency and Assignment
- Participant in the 2013 Conclave
- Views and Positions
- On Religious Life
Early Life and Education
João Braz de Aviz was born on April 24, 1947, in Mafra, diocese of Joinville, Brazil. He has four brothers and three sisters, including a younger sister with Down syndrome. Braz de Aviz studied philosophy at the Queen of the Apostles Major Seminary in Curitiba and at the faculty in the city of Palmas, Paraná state. He completed his theological training in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, obtaining a licentiate, and at the Pontifical Lateran University, graduating in 1992 with a specialization in dogmatic theology.
Priestly Ministry
Braz de Aviz was ordained a priest on November 26, 1972. In the diocese of Apucarana, he served as parish priest in several parishes, rector of the major seminary of Apucarana and Londrina, and professor of dogmatic theology at the Paul VI Theological Institute in Londrina. He was also a member of the Council of Priests and the College of Consultors and general coordinator of the diocesan pastoral ministry of Apucarana.
Episcopal Career
Auxiliary Bishop of VitóriaOn April 6, 1994, Braz de Aviz was appointed Titular Bishop of Flénucléta and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vitória. He received his episcopal ordination on May 31 of the same year.
Bishop of Ponta Grossa
He was transferred as Ordinary of the Diocese of Ponta Grossa on August 12, 1998, by Pope John Paul II.
Archbishop of Maringá and Brasília
He was appointed Archbishop of Maringá on July 17, 2002. He served there until he was appointed Archbishop of Brasília on January 28, 2004. In May 2010, he organized the XVI National Eucharistic Congress, which coincided with the city's 50th anniversary.
Curial Appointment
Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
On January 4, 2011, Archbishop Braz de Aviz, who is not a member of a religious order, was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Since 1973, prelates ordained for dioceses or religious orders have alternated as Prefect of the Congregation that oversees consecrated life in the Catholic Church. In the past 100 years, 11 of the 18 Prefects have not belonged to religious orders. Archbishop Braz de Aviz became the fourth Brazilian to head a Vatican dicastery, after Cardinal Agnelo Rossi, who led the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 1970 to 1984; Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, who headed the Congregation for Bishops from 1998 to 2000; and Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, once Archbishop of São Paulo, who led the Congregation for the Clergy from 2006 to 2010.
Cardinalate
Creation as CardinalOn January 6, 2012, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI would elevate João Braz de Aviz to the College of Cardinals in a consistory on February 18, 2012.
Consistency and Assignment
On February 18, 2012, at St. Peter's Basilica, João Braz de Aviz was created a Cardinal Deacon with the titular deaconry of Santa Elena fuori Porta Prenestina. He was invested with the red biretta and received the cardinal's ring.
Participant in the 2013 Conclave
Braz de Aviz participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.
Views and Positions
On Liberation TheologyIn February 2011, Archbishop Braz de Aviz said that he had been on the verge of leaving the seminary and the Catholic Church because of ideological excesses that arose in the early years of liberation theology. He told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, "I personally lived with great suffering the years of the birth of liberation theology." The Archbishop also said that he valued liberation theology's emphasis on the preferential option for the poor, which expresses the Church's "sincere and responsible concern for the widespread phenomenon of social marginalization." He said that people needed to delve more deeply into the mystery of God to strengthen their relationships with others.
On Religious Life
In July 2011, he spoke about a breach of trust between the Vatican and many religious orders because of "certain positions taken in the past." He was referring to his predecessor, Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rodé, who had repeatedly denounced a "crisis" in religious life after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), linked in particular to what Rodé saw as excessively liberal trends in some communities. While not denying that there were problems, Braz de Aviz said that his main goal was to "restore trust," approaching issues with a new attitude — "without precondemnations," he said, "and listening to people's anguish."
