Vítor Coelho
Vítor Coelho de Almeida | |
|---|---|
 Coelho at Rádio Aparecida | |
| Archdiocese | Aparecida |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 5 August 1923 |
| Rank | Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Vítor Coelho de Almeida September 22, 1899 Sacramento, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Died | July 21, 1987 (aged 87) Aparecida, Brazil |
| Buried | Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, Aparecida, Brazil 22°51′0″S 45°13′48″W / 22.85000°S 45.23000°W |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Occupation | Radio personality |
Vítor Coelho de Almeida (Sacramento, Minas Gerais, 22 September 1899 – Aparecida, 21 July 1987), better known as Padre Vítor Coelho, was a Brazilian Redemptorist priest and catechist.
He was most famous for his preaching methods and his devotion to the patron saint of Brazil, Our Lady of Aparecida.[1]
His beatification process is underway and is led by Dom Darci José, the Auxiliary Bishop of Aparecida.[2]
Biography
[edit]Vítor Coelho de Almeida was born in Sacramento, Minas Gerais, son of Leão Coelho de Almeida, a teacher, and Maria Sebastiana Alves Moreira.[3]
After losing his mother when at seven years old, he began to live with his grandmother of his mother's side, and later with his uncle Vítor, a catholic canon, at Rio de Janeiro, while his father worked as an elementary school teacher.[3]
At 1911, Vítor entered the Colégio Santo Afonso, a catholic boarding school at Aparecida. The future priest's uncle enrolled his nephew at Santo Afonso with the goal to control his indisciplinated and insubordinate attitude. Even after Vítor clearly said that he didn't want to become a priest, Fr. João Batista, the school's director, accepted him anyway.[3]
Later, Vítor almost left the seminary, but declared his perseverance based on Our Lady of Aparecida:[3]
At times, I went through strong temptations against my vocation. In such moments, to avoid taking a false step, I turned to Our Lady, entrusted my vocation to her hands, and everything would pass.
— Vitor Coelho de Almeida
He exerced the novitiate at 1917 at Perdões, professing his vows at August 2nd, 1918.[3]
Vítor initiated his studies in Philosophy at Aparecida, finishing them at Gars, Germany in 1920 and dedicating himself to Theology soon after. His theological studies were shaken in 1921, after contracting tuberculosis for the first time. He later finished them after his recover.[3]
In 1923, Vítor was ordained, becoming member of the Redemptorists and celebrating his first Mass at Forcheim.[3]
Vítor Coelho dedicated years of his life to cathechesis via radio, becoming "radio-apostle" of the ZYL-6 radio, situated in the city of Campos do Jordão, and the Rádio Aparecida, where he was active for 36 years, from 1951 until his death.[3][4]
During the military dictatorship in Brazil, the radio network was censored by the government for 24 hours for supposed "subversive content". The content in question was a reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Coelho, who was the network's director at the time.[3]
The priest passed away at the 21st of July, 1987 at the city of Aparecida, victim of a pulmonary edema. He was 87 years old.[3][4]
Initially buried at the Redeptorist Memorial Chapel at Aparecida,[5] his remains were moved in July 2023 to the interior of the chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph at the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, in occasion of the 12th romaria realized in the priests' homenage.[6]
Beatification
[edit]
In 1998, eleven years after his passing, his beatification process began.[3] In 2006, the diocesan phase of the process was finished, with many documents and a detailed research about his life, works and legacy being sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.[7]
In 2022, Pope Francis declared Father Vítor venerable.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Conheça a vida do Padre Vítor, o Apóstolo de Aparecida - A12.com". www.a12.com. Archived from the original on 2024-12-11.
- ^ "Lançada a biografia documentada do Padre Vitor Coelho de Almeida - A12.com". www.a12.com. Archived from the original on 2024-08-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Padre Vítor Coelho de Almeida: a voz dos romeiros na Rádio Aparecida". www.a12.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2024-08-09. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ a b "No centenário do rádio no Brasil, as histórias de 4 sacerdotes com as vidas ligadas a este meio de comunicação". Jornal O São Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-09-07. Archived from the original on 2024-12-27. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ "Venerável Pe. Vítor Coelho: restos mortais vão para o Santuário Nacional". Notícias. 2023-07-21. Archived from the original on 2025-03-02. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ "Cerimônia: Acompanhe a trasladação dos restos mortais do Padre Vítor Coelho de Almeida". www.a12.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2025-01-13. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ "Acompanhe a causa de beatificação do Padre Vítor Coelho de Almeida". www.a12.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2024-10-13. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ "Padre Vítor Coelho de Almeida é declarado Venerável pelo Papa Francisco". Jornal O São Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-08-05. Archived from the original on 2024-12-28. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
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