Carlos Duarte Costa
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Most Reverend Carlos Duarte Costa (declared Saint Carlos of Brazil by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church) (1888-1961) was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. After many years of struggle with Rome he was eventually excommunicated by Pope Pius XII, and went on to establish the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil.
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[edit] From Infancy to Vocation
Carlos Duarte Costa was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on July 21, 1888 in the neighborhood of Saint Antonio, in the residence of his uncle, then Eduardo Duarte Da Silva. Son of Joao Matta Francisco Costa, and Maria Carlota Duarte Da Silva Costa, he was baptized on September 3, 1888, by the priest Francisco Goulart, and confirmed by Bishop Joao Eberhard. At the age of nine, he made his first communion, on July 24, 1897, in the Cathedral of Uberaba, at the hands of his uncle, Dom Eduardo Duarte Silva. He concluded his primary studies in the Santa Rosa College, in Rio De Janeiro. Later, his uncle was raised to the Episcopal Dignity, being nominated Diocesan Bishop with his See in Uberaba, exerting a dynamic and efficient apostolate in the pasturing of the souls in his Diocese. As a child of nine years, Carlos Duarte Costa, was taken by his uncle Dom Eduardo Duarte Silva, now a Bishop, to Rome to study in the American College Boarding School Pius-Latin, where he completed courses in the minor seminary. In 1905, he returned to Brazil for health reasons, having been entered in the largest seminary in Uberaba, for the Congregation of Augustinian Priests, where he finished his Philosophical and Theological studies in the Major Seminary.
Deacon Carlos Duarte Costa was a senior cleric for his uncle, Dom Eduardo Duarte Silva, in the Cathedral Church of Uberaba. In the same Cathedral Church, Fr. Carlos Duarte Costa, celebrated his first Mass, in a Cathedral filled with the faithful on May 04, 1911. After his ordination, he returned to Rome to further his education, and obtained a Doctorate in Theology, in the Gregorian Pontifical University of Rome. Returning from Rome, he worked with his uncle, Dom Eduardo in Uberaba, as secretary of the Diocese. The priest, Fr. Carlos Duarte Costa, was awarded with title of Monsignor for the publication of a catechism for children. Soon afterwards, he was nominated Apostolic Protonotary and General Secretary of the Archdiocese of Rio De Janeiro, for Sebastiao Cardinal Helm of the Silveira Cintra, succeeding Dom Cardinal Joaquin Arcoverde Albuquerque Cavalcante, executing this function until May 24, 1923, when the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Rio De Janeiro was nominated.
[edit] Bishop of Botucatu
Since the death of Dom Lacio in 1923, Botucatu remained a vacant diocese. For his work in fulfillment of his duty in the Archdiocese of Rio De Janeiro, on July 04, 1924, Pope Pius XI nominated Dom Carlos as the Bishop of Botucatu. His Episcopal consecration occurred on December 8, 1924, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio De Janeiro, being consecrated by Cardinal Sebastian Leme da Silveira Cintra, having as assistants: Dom Alberto Jose Gonzales, Bishop of Ribeirao Preto and Dom Benedict Pablo Alves de Souza, Diocesan Bishop of the Holy Spirit.
[edit] Political & Social Influence
In the 1930’s, he was one of the great articulators of the Catholic Electoral Union. It was intended to lobby for and to preserve Christian principles in the laws and acts of the Government; for example the creation of a rule of law for divorce (which had until that time been an act denied to only the poor of the Roman Catholic faith in Brazil while being commonly enjoyed by the afluent). In 1932, on the occasion of the Constitutionalist Revolution, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa formed a “Diocesan Battalion of the Hunters ", generally known as the "Battalion of the Bishop" to fight on the side of the Constitutionalist Troops. To raise funds for the democratic rebellion he collected deep between the fiduciary offices, sold his pectoral gold cross with amethyst and precious gems, and a farm belonging to the Diocese demonstrating his deep love of the cause of freedom. These acts would begin a long period of rocky relations between Don Carlos and the Government, eventually leading to retribution and willingness to take drastic measures when attempting to silence him during his future criticisms of both it and the Church.
[edit] Ecclesiastical Renovation
In 1936, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa made his second "ad-limina" visit to Rome, to visit Pope Pius XI, in the Vatican. He presented him various requests for the clergy of his diocese and for the clergy of Brazil. He requested permission for the maintenance of the largest seminary in his diocese, the celebration of the Holy Mass and the administration of the sacraments in the vernacular language, the permission for clergy to marry, the abolition of auricular confession; replacing it with general or communitarian confession, distribution of Holy Communion to the laity under both species, the institution of the Permanent Diaconate for married laypeople, the celebration of the Holy Mass "Versus Populi" (facing the people) with the Sacrario detras of the Altar, the organization of a Council of Advice constituted of Bishops to govern the Church together with the Pope, and the participation of the laypersons in the administration of the Word, of the Eucharist, and in Evangelization. These requests made by Bishop Duarte Costa were not accepted by the Pope of that time, but years later some were placed in practice through the Second Vatican Council. Some claims have been made that Dom Carlos Duarte Costa was regarded poorly by the Roman Curia after twelve years leading the Diocese of Botucatu. This was somewhat likely as it became clear that his political opinions differed from those of the Church relating to what he considered the poor administration of the property of the Diocese. (He began to sell diocesan properties, placing the funds at the disposal of the poor and thereby disobeying the Pope.)
In early 1939 President Getulio Vargas, infuriated with Dom Carlos for having convinced a battalion of Constitutional Troops to join him in his struggle against what many considered a corrupt government, petitioned the Holy See for his removal from the Diocese of Botucatu. The Vatican could not do it directly, so the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil entered into an agreement with the Secretary of the Diocese of Botucatu to obtain the resignation of Dom Carlos as Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu. In an act of deception a resignation letter was placed into a stack of documents which the Bishop had to sign in short order. While most would agree that Dom Carlos should have read everything he was endorsing, the paper was signed by him nonetheless. When the plot was identified, the diocese of Botucatu informed the Holy See that Dom Carlos Duarte Costa had signed the document mistakenly without reading it. The Holy See renounced claims that it was a forgery based on the statements of the secretary of the Diocese, and the resignation was accepted by Pope Pious XI on October 6, 1937. After the acceptance of his resignation, Dom Carlos was appointed Titular Bishop of Maura— for all purposes, an extinct Diocese in Africa.
[edit] Bishop of Maura
After his "forced resignation", Dom Carlos Duarte Costa definitively abandoned the lavish life afforded the episcopal dignity at the time and went to live humbly in the city of Rio De Janeiro as Bishop Emeritus de Botucatu, with title of titular Bishop of Maura. There he obtained the support of a protector, Cardinal Dom Sebastiao Leme da Silveira Cintra, who granted permission for him to keep a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament in its residence as well as faculties to preside over marriage, celebrate festive and solemn masses, and to manage the Sacrament of the Chrism in the parishes where he was invited by the respective vicars. At this time he established the magazine "Nossos" as a vehicle to spread devotion of the Holy Mother. In this somewhat peaceful life however, he was still not able to accept the economic conditions which plagued the poor of Brazil and soon he was back at it; criticizing the government and the national church administration, which he (perhaps rightly) saw as an accessory to the mistreatment of the most vulnerable in his country. By this time Dom Carlos Duarte Costa had formed a variety of attitudes against the politics of the Catholic Church.
In 1944, Dom Carlos wrote the preface of the book "The Soviet Power", written by Rev. Hewlett Johnson (the Anglican Dean of Canterbury, known as 'The Red Dean' for his uncompromising support of the Soviet Union), which would end up having repercussions throughout the country. Dom Carlos was openly critical of papal periodicals and Encyclicals, namely Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII), Quadragesimo Ano (Pius XI), and Divina Redemptoris. He also publicly denounced Catholic priests of German and Italian nationality residing in Brazil as agents of the German Nazi Party and Italian Fascist Regime after the government destroyed Brazilian warships in order to provide materials to Germany's struggling war effort. While enjoying the protection of Cardinal Dom Sebastiao Leme da Silveira Cintra, Dom Carlos' political activism had proceeded without much trouble. However after the cardinal's death Dom Jayme de Barros Camara was elevated to take his place and things became much less pleasant for Duarte Costa.
Dom Carlos was formally accused by the facist government of being a communist sympathizer on June 06, 1944 and he was subsequently imprisioned in Belo Horizonte. Then, as a result of a decision pronounced by the Ecclesiastical Chamber, in retaliation for his undisciplined outspokenness, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa was forbidden to preach the Gospel and to hear the confessions of the faithful on July 10, 1944. He remained imprisoned until 06 September 1944, when legal restrictions against the Brazilian Association of the Press were lifted, and after the government succumbed to pressure from the Brazilian embassies of both Mexico and the United Nations on his behalf. (This was reported in the New York Times however these articles are not archived online.)
[edit] Excommunication
After his release from prision the good bishop soon found himself in hot water again. This time it was a result of his publishing strong and repeated public denunciations of the fact that the Vatican Secretariat of State was engaged in the issuance of Vatican Passports to some very high ranking German ex-Nazis, a practice referred to as the "Ratline." These former Nazi officials were among some of the most notorious of war criminals, such as, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Commandant Adolf Eichmann and the infamous, Dr. Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death", both of whom traveled after the War on officially issued Vatican Passports to Brazil in 1945.
The Roman Apostolic Administration had issued several warnings over the years about his publication of what it considered private details of the Church's internal business. But it seems that the more he was warned, the more he was encouraged to defend what he saw as the true tenants of the Christian faith and social justice for the poor and working class. Without any hope for the submission of Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, the Vatican finally laid against him the penalty of excommunication on July 02, 1945. This excommunication for his schismatic audacity was a tactic intended to make him return to the unity of the true Church (as was used not uncommonly) however the result was not to be as intended by Rome.
[edit] The Founding of ICAB
After learning of the excommunication, Carlos Duarte Costa responded by establishing the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB) on July 6, 1945. An extract of the statutes of the new Church was published in the official federal gazette, page 12, 637, July 25, 1945 and the church was also legally registered in book No 2 of the Civil Societies, under Number 107.966 of the Book A, Number 04. On August 18, 1945, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa published his "Manifesto to the Nation", where he criticized the Roman Catholic Church and then spoke of his newly established Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church. Although Dom Carlos Duarte Costa had already been excommunicated, on July 24, 1946 he was declared, "excommunicado vitando", that is, excommunicated to the severest degree that exists. This was the final decree and was intended to prevent Roman Catholics from having anything to do with him whatsoever.
When Dom Carlos Duarte Costa established ICAB he naturally used the same vestments, insignia, and the same rites as the Catholic Church (the ones he had always used). This caused the cardinals of Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro to appeal to the Minister of Justice and the President of the Brazilian Republic directly for an injunction against him and his church altogether. On September 27, 1948, the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church was closed by virtue of an action of the Courts of the Republic. On 30 of November 1948, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa entered an action in the Federal Court of Appeals, and with a Writ of Mandamus petitioned Judges Carpenter, Luiz, and Benjamin, for the reopening of ICAB parishes. The appeal was successful and the churches were reopened after a few minor changes: a barely modified liturgy, gray cassocks for the priests, and gray cassocks with red cintures for the bishops so they wouldn't be confused with Roman Catholic clergy.
The Brazilian Church suffered much persecution at the hands of hostile governments, and unfortunately even fellow Christians. Many of the early deacons, priests, and bishops have given accounts of arrest, imprisonment and even torture. (The grey cassocks and soutanes worn by the clergy, a result of that early persecution are still worn by ICAB clergy today).
[edit] In Death, Exalted to the Altars
Dom Carlos Duarte Costa guided, directed and governed the Brazilian Church for 16 years, until he passed away on March 26, 1961 (Palm Sunday) in Rio De Janeiro at 73 years age. At that time, his church had 50 Priests and 37 Bishops. The death of Dom Carlos moved many, and at his funeral service Igreja-Mae and Couto Street were overcrowded with people. His coffin was processed down Igreja-Mae, on Couto No 54 Street, where Dom Carlos Duarte Costa was entombed with all the honors of a Pontiff, in the presence of the Bishops of ICAB.
Regardless of one's political or spiritual beliefs, one should note that the life of Dom Carlos Duarte Costa was irrepressibly evangelical. Due to everything he had done, he was granted the honor of the altars by the ICAB national episcopate on July 4 – 6, 1970, on the Street of the Couto, n 54, Penha Quarter, in Rio De Janeiro, with the title of “Saint Carlos of Brazil".
[edit] Notable Facts
•Just over a month after the church's foundation, on August 15, 1945 bishop Duarte Costa presided as the principal at the episcopal consecration of Salomão Barbosa Ferraz. Thirteen years later (in 1958 under Pope John XXIII) Ferraz reconciled and returned to the Roman Catholic Church and was fully recognized as a valid bishop (even though he was married at the time [1]). Ferraz was not ordained or consecrated again, even conditionally, but he was not appointed to a diocese immediately. He did pastoral work in the Archdiocese of São Paolo until May 12, 1963, when he was appointed titular bishop of Eleutherna by Pope John XXIII [2]. He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, and Pope Paul VI appointed him to serve on one of Vatican II's working commissions. Upon his death in 1969, Bishop Ferraz was buried with full honors accorded a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. His case is evidence that the Holy Orders conferred by Duarte Costa after having left the Roman Catholic are accepted as valid but illicit.
•Dom Carlos Duarte Costa was succeeded as primate of the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira by Venezuelan-born Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez, who is still listed as patriarch of the Brazilian church, though contemporary accounts such as that given in Peter Frederick Anson's book, "Bishops at Large" suggest that the transition was not so direct or clear-cut. There may have been several pretenders to the patriarchal throne before Castillo's tenure was secured. Castillo Mendez uses the traditional Roman Pontifical for all episcopal consecrations and is more theologically conservative than his predecessor, even though he still denies papal infallibility and obligatory celibacy. Castillo Mendez was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1944 in Spain and consecrated a Catholic Apostolic Brazilian bishop by Duarte Costa in 1948 in Panama.
| Saint Carlos of Brazil | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | |
| Born | 1888 |
| Died | 1961 |
| Canonized | 1979 |
| Venerated in | by Independent Catholics (including the Charismatic Episcopal Church) and Old Catholics |
| Feast | July 21 (not celebrated liturgically) |
| Patron saint of | Conscience Freedom, Independent Catholicism |
[edit] External links
- Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira (ICAB)
- The Catholic Apostolic National Church (Official ICAB mission to the United States)
- Western Orthodox Church in America (Duarte Costa line)
- International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Duarte Costa line)
- Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (Duarte Costa line)
- Servants of the Good Shepherd
- Latin Episcopal Church of Brazil (Dom Lucas Macieira da Silva Arcebispo Maximus)
- Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran (Duarte Costa line)
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