Moved by a profound desire to give himself entirely to God and the Holy Church, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias founded the Society of Apostolic Life Virgo Flos Carmeli.
The beginnings of a consecrated life
Born on 15 August 1939 in São Paulo, Brazil, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias received from Providence, from his earliest childhood, the gift of contemplation and a remarkable ability to perceive God’s action through all created things.
As an adolescent, he was deeply troubled by the moral decline and vulgarity already prevalent in society. He lamented that no one seemed willing to oppose them with the necessary resolve, and longed to find a way to change this situation.
Among the first fruits of his later apostolic work, Monsignor João joined the Marian Congregations. He was also admitted to the Third Order of Carmel and consecrated himself as a slave of love to the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to the method of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.
Formation and academic degrees
With the intellectual, spiritual and doctrinal formation of his followers in mind, Monsignor João studied Thomistic theology with distinguished professors from the University of Salamanca and Rome’s Angelicum.
In addition to studying Law at the traditional Largo de São Francisco Law School in São Paulo, he earned a degree in Humanities from the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; a master’s degree in Psychology from the Catholic University of Bogotá, Colombia; a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome; and a doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical Bolivarian University in Medellín, Colombia.
Monsignor João wrote 27 books, several of which were translated into as many as seven languages; some editions exceeded two million copies. He was a member of the International Society of Thomas Aquinas (SITA), the Marian Academy of Aparecida and the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate Conception. Several countries honoured him for his cultural and scholarly work.
Pope Benedict XVI named him Honorary Canon of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome and Apostolic Protonotary. In recognition of his work for the Holy Church, the same Pope also awarded him the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.
Foundations
In 1999, he decided to establish the Private Association of the Faithful Heralds of the Gospel, which received pontifical approval from Pope Saint John Paul II on 22 February 2001. Under the blessings of the See of Peter, the association soon spread to 78 countries, growing into a broad community made up mostly of young people.
Marian missions in parishes; the Apostolate of the Oratory “Mary, Queen of Hearts”; visits to families, prisons and hospitals; mail services reaching millions; the Heralds of the Gospel magazine; the Future and Life school programme; TV-Arautos; and the Mercy Aid Fund are among the activities carried out in many areas of society.
With the help of grace, and seeking to remain faithful to the celibacy and chastity he had promised to God decades earlier, he felt a deep desire to follow the priestly path. In this way, his lifelong self-offering to God and the cause of the Holy Church took on its definitive form.
On 15 June 2005, Monsignor João was ordained a priest at the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in São Paulo, together with fourteen other members of the Heralds of the Gospel. He thereby founded the Society of Apostolic Life Virgo Flos Carmeli, which Pope Benedict XVI approved by decree dated 21 April 2009.
His apostolate also inspired a large group of women who wished to dedicate themselves to God according to the charism of the Heralds of the Gospel, adapted to the particular needs of female religious life. Their community took definitive form on 25 December 2005, with the founding of the Society of Apostolic Life Regina Virginum. Pope Benedict XVI approved it a few years later, on 26 April 2009.
In addition to opening secondary schools in many Brazilian cities and other countries, Monsignor João founded several institutions of higher education: the Aristotelian-Thomistic Philosophical Institute, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Theological Institute and the Saint Scholastica Philosophical-Theological Institute. He also founded the scholarly journal Lumen Veritatis.
Selflessness and suffering
On 2 June 2010, Monsignor João suffered a stroke that marked the beginning of a long period of hardship lasting more than fourteen years.
Seven years later, at the age of seventy-seven, he announced his resignation as Superior General of the Society Virgo Flos Carmeli and President of the Heralds of the Gospel Association.
“In leaving this responsibility, I cannot — nor would I wish to — renounce before God my mission as a father,” he wrote in a letter to his spiritual children.
After sixty years of service to the Catholic Church, he began to live a more secluded life devoted to prayer, continuing to intercede with God for his sons and daughters.
“I will remain at everyone’s disposal, knowing that God has made me a living model and guardian of this charism, entrusted to me by the Holy Spirit.”
Some years later, amid silence and suffering, strengthened by the sacraments of the Holy Church and surrounded by his spiritual children, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias peacefully surrendered his soul to God at the age of 85, on 1 November 2024.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24).
Having crossed the threshold of eternity, Monsignor João left behind a work that forms a vast field in which the Church will continue to bear new fruit.
To read the complete biography of Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, visit this website.