Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on August 15, 1939. His parents, António Clá Dias and Annitta Scognamiglio Clá Dias, were immigrants from Europe (his father being a Spaniard from Cádiz and his mother, an Italian from Rome), in whom the Catholic faith, which they had received from their forefathers, was still vibrant.
This lively faith manifested itself early in João. In school, he sought to organize a movement among his classmates to help young people practice a virtuous life. He joined the Marian Congregations, and at the invitation of a teacher, entered the Third Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Strict Observance, on May 23, 1956 in the city of São Paulo. This event deeply marked his life.
He completed his secondary studies at Colégio Estadual Roosevelt and studied law at the prestigious Largo de São Francisco Faculty in São Paulo. During his post-secondary studies he shone as an active Catholic university leader, in the turbulent years preceding the Sorbonne revolution of May 1968.
Msgr. João S. Clá Dias is an honourary canon of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, in Rome, and Protonotary Apostolic. He has degrees in Philosophy and Theology from the Italo-Brazilian University in São Paulo and a Humanities Doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra, in the Dominican Republic. He is also Master of Canon Law at the Superior Pontifical Institute of Canon Law in Rio de Janeiro and has a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the Catholic University of Colombia. Most recently, he received his Doctorate in Canon Law from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas, more commonly known as the Angelicum, in Rome.
His ardent desire to dedicate his life to the apostolate, in faithfulness to the magisterium of the Chair of Peter as well as his insight into the need for solid doctrinal foundation, led him to the study of Thomistic theology with the renowned university professors of Salamanca (Spain), including Fr. Arturo Alonso Lobo, OP, Fr. Marcelino Cabreros de Anta, CMF, Fr. Victorino Rodríguez y Rodriguez, OP, Fr. Esteban Gómez, OP, Fr. Antonio Royo Marin, OP, Fr. Teófilo Urdánoz, OP, and Fr. Armando Bandera, OP. Years later, in a gesture of profound gratitude, he wrote short biographies on two of his mentors with editions published in Spain and the United States: “Antonio Royo Marin, master of the spiritual life, brilliant preacher and renowned author”, and “Fr. Cabreros de Anta, CMF, A solid pillar of Canon Law in our century.”
The institutes for the intellectual and doctrinal formation of the Heralds of the Gospel were later founded as a fruit of these studies: The Aristotilean-Thomistic Philosophical Institute, and the St. Thomas Aquinas Theological Institute, as well as the St. Scholastica Philosophical-Theological Institute for the feminine branch, and the Heralds of the Gospel University, which opened with courses in Philosophy and Theology.
Seeing music as an efficacious means of evangelization, he refined his musical gifts with renowned maestro Miguel Arqueróns, conductor of the Paulista Choir of the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo.
His desire for perfection spurred him to initiate a provisory attempt at community life in a former Benedictine edifice in São Paulo, in 1970. Of those first companions, none persevered. Yet, after numerous adversities, the community took root and blossomed into an evangelization movement headed by Msgr. João Clá. From this founding house developed many others, in which members dedicated themselves to prayer and study in preparation for works of evangelization. This took the juridical form of a Private Association of the Faithful, The Heralds of the Gospel, in the diocese of Campo Limpo (Brazil). With its implantation in an additional 20 countries it was recognized by the Pontifical Council of the Laity, on February 22, 2001, as an International Association of Pontifical Right. Today it carries out activities in 78 countries on five continents. Shortly after the approval, the Vicariate of Rome entrusted the care of the Church of St. Benedetto in Piscinula to the Heralds of the Gospel.
Msgr. João Clá Dias is the founder and current Superior General of the Heralds of the Gospel.
He also established a feminine branch of the Heralds – in a similar manner but independently from the masculine branch – with the ideal of community life as a means of achieving sanctity and worthily preparing for the evangelizing mission. From the feminine branch arose the Society of Apostolic Life Regina Virginum, which was canonically erected in the Diocese of Campo Limpo, by Bishop Emilio Pignoli.
For part 2: Our Founder: Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias [Part 11]
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