Bishop Rifan during the audience with Pope Francis |
On 22 May 2013, His Excellency Bishop Rifan, of
the Apostolic Administration of St. John Vianney, Campos, had an audience with Pope Francis. In a message to the President of FIUV and the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, the Bishop said that:
"I introduced myself saying who I am, explaining that I am the
Bishop of the Apostolic Administration that conserves the Mass in the
Extraordinary Form. He answered me: I know, because I talk about this
with Cardinal Castrillon."
This is a good news for all of us. Deo gratias!
Who is Bishop Fernando Arêas Rifan
Fernando Arêas Rifan was born in São Fidélis in the diocese of Campos, Brazil and was ordained as a priest of that diocese on 8 December 1974.
He joined the Priestly Union of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, founded by Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer,
who was Bishop of Campos from 3 January 1949 until his retirement on 29
August 1981, and who had refused to accept in his diocese the revision
of the liturgy of the Roman Rite by Pope Paul VI. On 30 June 1988, Rifan acted as assistant presbyter at the Ecône Consecrations by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Castro Mayer.
On Bishop Castro Mayer's death on 25 April 1991, the Priestly Union,
also known as the Sacerdotal Society of St. John Marie Vianney, chose as
its leader Licínio Rangel, who was then given episcopal consecration by three of the four bishops of the closely associated Society of St. Pius X.
As a result of contacts initiated by Darío Castrillón Hoyos, Cardinal President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission in 2000, the members of the priestly union formally requested on 15 August 2001 reconciliation with the Holy See, as a result of which the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney was established with effect from 18 January 2002, with Bishop Rangel as Apostolic Administrator.
For health reasons, Bishop Rangel asked Pope John Paul II for an auxiliary bishop, but the Pope recommended a coadjutor bishop.
The Pope had promised to ensure episcopal succession for the Apostolic
Administration, and a coadjutor would have automatic right of
succession. Accordingly, Rifan, whom Bishop Rangel had chosen as his vicar general,
was appointed Titular Bishop of Cedamusa and Coadjutor to the Apostolic
Administrator on 28 June 2002. His episcopal ordination was held on 18
August 2002, with Cardinal Castrillón as principal consecrator, assisted
by Bishop Rangel and Archbishop Alano Maria Pena of Niterói.
On Bishop Rangel's death on 16 December 2002, Bishop Rifan thus immediately became head of the Apostolic Administration
(source: Wikipedia)
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