José de Paiva Netto

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José Simões de Paiva Netto, writer, journalist, radio broadcaster, composer and poet, was born on March 2, 1941, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is the President of the Brazilian Non-Governmental Organization Legião da Boa Vontade — LBV (Legion of Good Will — LGW), and also member of the ABI (Brazilian Press Association), FENAJ (Brazilian Federation of Journalists), Academia de Letras do Brasil Central (Academy of Letters of Central ward of Brazil), Sindicato dos Jornalistas do Rio de Janeiro (Journalists' Union of Rio de Janeiro), Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas de Radiodifusão do Rio de Janeiro (Radio Broadcasting Companies Workers' Union of Rio de Janeiro), Sindicato dos Escritores do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e da União Brasileira de Compositores (UBC) (Writers' Union and Composers' Union of the State of Rio de Janeiro).

Son of Bruno Simões de Paiva (1911-2000) and Idalina Cecília de Paiva (1913-1994), his childhood and youth were marked by an uncommon worry with spiritual, educational, philosophical, social, political, scientific and economic themes and by a deep sense of assistence to the needy population. His father always stimulated him to read a lot. He used to help his mother, who was a practical nurse, with the assistance to the sick ones and used to kindly receive all those who knocked on their door seeking for aid.

Paiva Netto studied in the traditional Colégio Pedro II, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he received the title of "Eminent Student", receiving a bronze plaque at the headquarters of this respected standard-school. In 1956, still young, he began his journey next to the late founder of the Organization, the Brazilian journalist, radio broadcaster, writer, poet, thinker and activist Alziro Zarur (1914-1979), being one of his main assessors during almost a quarter of a century. So he could totally dedicate himself to the LGW, he left behind his vocation for Medicine and Music. Later on, he became Secretary General of the Legion of Good Will (position equivalent to the Vice-President), and with the death of Alziro Zarur, Mr. Paiva Netto became his successor.

As President of the organization since 1979, Paiva Netto multiplied the LGW's programs of human, social and educational promotion with a growth over 15.000%, as published by Veja magazine in 1994, when outlining his profile. He established in the Legion of Good Will the motto Education and Culture, Nourishment, Health and Work with Ecumenical Spirituality, a marking for a gigantic community action that stands out by the high quality level in the assistance towards the population in need who lives in personal and social risk situation. Today there are sections of assistance of the LGW spread throughout Brazil, such as schools of elementary education; homes for children, adolescents and elderly people; community and educational centers; and socio-educational campaigns.

In special, the model-schools created by Paiva Netto serve for an even greater project, in which he has dedicated himself for the last years: the Ecumenical Citizen Pedagogy. Pedagogy of Afection, which proposes a new school model, of learning, where the brain and heart work together.

The Organization's work has no borders and it excites other nations in the Planet. Currently, this solidary initiative is developed by the the Legion of Good Will in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Portugal and United States, besides having correspondents around the world. The LGW was the first Brazilian Non-Governmental Organization to be affiliated to the Department of Public Information of the United Nations (DPI), in 1994. In 1999, it became the first NGO from Brazil to achieve general consultative status in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. And in 2000, it became part of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations with consultative relations with the United Nations (CONGO), in Vienna, Austria.

In 1989, Paiva Netto inaugurated in Brasilia/DF, capital of Brazil, the Temple of Good Will (TGW), with the presence of over 50 thousand participants. The TGW is a pole of Unrestricted Ecumenism that praises the conciliation of all creatures and peoples of the Earth's Humanity, and of the Total Ecumenism that praises the urgent need of communion between Earth's Humanity and Heaven's Humanity. That is why it is also known as the Temple of the Luminous Spirits or of the Blessed Souls, because, after all, the dead do not die. The TGW is also admired by its bold architecture that reflects its universal Spirituality and it is considered the biggest construction in pyramid format in the 20th Century by the traditional Diário de Notícias, from Lisbon, Portugal. By Paiva Netto's initiative, with the participation of more than 100 thousand people, in 1994 the World Parliament of Ecumenical Fraternity, the ParlaMundi of the LGW, workmanship part of the architectonic complex champion in number of visits, according to the Turism Office of the Federal District (SETUR), receiving in its 16 years of existence, more than 15 million visitors.

To diffuse all this ideal of Solidarity, Paiva Netto created the Super Rede Boa Vontade de Rádio — RBV (Good Will Super Radio Network), the Boa Vontade TV (Good Will TV) and the Rede Mundial de Televisão — RMTV (Rede Mundial Television). He wrote several best sellers, with over 3 million copies sold. About this aspect of his personality, the North American writer Errol Lincoln Uys observed: "Paiva Netto, being a practical man, nevertheless has a soul of a poet".