Vatican City, Feb 27, 2009 / 10:52 am
This morning the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Orani João Tempesta to head the Church in Rio de Janerio, the most important see in Brazil, which is the most populous Catholic country in the world.
Most Reverend Orani João Tempesta, O. Cist., was born on June 23, 1950 in São José do Rio Pardo, Brazil.
He completed his elementary and high schools studies at São José do Rio Pardo, and in 1967 he joined the Cistercian Monastery of São Bernardo in the same city. He studied philosophy at the São Bento monastery in São Paulo and then went on to his theological studies at the Salesian’s Pius IX Theological Institute, also in São Paulo.
He pronounced his solemn vows as a Cistercian on February 2, 1969 and was ordained a priest on December 7, 1974.