CATANDUVA (BRAZIL)
Catholic Culture - Trinity Communications [San Diego CA]
November 2, 2023
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Valdir Mamede of Catanduva, Brazil.
The Brazilian newspaper Diário da Região reported that the 62-year-old prelate resigned after an investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed priests and seminarians. The investigation, the newspaper reported, was conducted by the metropolitan archbishop, Archbishop Moacir Silva of Ribeirão Preto. Police have not conducted an inquiry, according to the newspaper.
Bishop Luiz Carlos Dias of the nearby Diocese of São Carlos will administer the Diocese of Catanduva until the Pope names a successor to Bishop Mamede.
Born in 1961, Bishop Mamede entered the Claretian order in 1981 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1988.
In 2006, Father Mamede left the Claretian order and became a priest of the Archdiocese of Brasília, the nation’s capital. Seven years later, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him auxiliary bishop of Brasilia, and in 2019, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Catanduva.