RIO DE JANEIRO — The president of Brazil’s Catholic publishing house Vozes, Fr. Antonio Moser, OFM, of the Immaculate Conception Province in Brazil, was shot to death March 9 in an apparent attempted carjacking as he was driving his vehicle on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
The Franciscan friar, 75, was on his way to São Paulo to record a religious program for the Cançao Nova TV station.
Fr. Antonio had been involved in many varied roles. The priest, who studied in Lyon, France, and at the Academia Alfonsianum in Rome, was pastor of Santa Clara Church, president of Vozes Publishing, lecturer at the Franciscan Theological Institute, member of the bioethics committee of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops, coordinator of the Ethical Research Commission of the Catholic University of Petropolis, coordinator of Holy Land social projects in Petropolis, and director of the Terra Santa Educational Center.
He had published 27 books, including several that were translated into various languages, and had done much work in the poor and violent neighborhood near Rio de Janeiro. He had been a professor at Catholic universities in Berkeley, Calif., and Lisbon, Portugal, as well as in Rio.
Fr. Antonio’s large number of commitments was possible because the friar was convinced of the value of always working as part of a group, according to a report on the USFranciscans website.
Photos of Fr. Antonio, including one with Pope Francis, can be found on the USFranciscans website from which this article was adapted.
The Immaculate Conception Province is one of nine OFM provinces in Brazil.
Related Links
- “Brazilian Provincial Appointed Bishop, Other News for Franciscan Order” – March 9, 2016, HNP Today