Pope Francis has appointed the Reverend Msgr. Antônio Luiz Catelan Ferreira, of the clergy of the diocese of Umuarama, until now professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro and parish vicar of São José in the Episcopal Vicariate Sul, as auxiliary bishop of the metropolitan archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, assigning him the titular see of Tunes.
Msgr. Antônio Luiz Catelan Ferreira was born on February 2, 1970, in Cidade Gaúcha, Diocese of Umuarama, in the State of Paraná. He studied philosophy at the Nossa Senhora da Glória Archdiocesan Seminary in Maringá-PR (1989) and theology at the Paulo VI Institute in Londrina-PR (1994). He specialised in dogmatic theology, obtaining a licentiate from the Nossa Senhora da Assunção Pontifical Faculty of Theology in São Paulo-SP (2002) and a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (2011).
On February 5, 1995, he was ordained a priest and incardinated in the diocese of Umuarama, where he held the following offices: parish priest of São Paulo Apóstolo; diocesan pastoral coordinator; member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors; parish administrator of Nossa Senhora do Rocio in Tapira-PR; Rector of the Major Seminary of Philosophy and Theology; parish priest of Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro in Umuarama-PR, and vicar-general.
He was director and professor at the Rainha dos Apóstolos Institute of Philosophy in Umuarama-PR and the Paulo VI Theological Institute in Londrina-PR; professor of theology at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná in Curitiba-PR, the Seminário Redemptoris Mater in Brasília-DF, the Faculty of Theology of the metropolitan archdiocese of Brasília-DF and the Pontifício Instituto Superior de Direito Canônico in Rio de Janeiro-RJ.
Within the Brazilian Episcopal Conference, he has served as adjunct undersecretary for pastoral ministry, member of the National Pastoral Institute, and assessor of the Episcopal Pastoral Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith. In addition, he is secretary of the Ratzinger Foundation of Brazil and has been a Member of the International Theological Commission since 2014.
To date, he has ministered in the metropolitan archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro as a professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica and the Higher Institute of Theology, and as parish vicar of São José in the Sul Episcopal Vicariate.
