The bishops of Brazil approved, this morning, April 23, the new General Guidelines for the Evangelizing Action of the Church in Brazil. The document, which will guide the Church's actions for the next six years, was unanimously approved by the bishops, gathered during the 62nd General Assembly of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), which had as its central theme the discussion and approval of the guidelines.

Since the beginning of the assembly on April 15, the bishops have been dedicated to analyzing the text of the guidelines, presented by the Guidelines Drafting Committee.

Divided into regional groups, the episcopate presented a total of 656 amendments to the original text, which were accepted by the commission and are present, almost in their entirety, in the final text presented this morning to the bishops.

Expression of the common walk

Before approval, Dom Leomar Antônio Brustolin, Archbishop of Santa Maria (RS) and president of the commission responsible for the guidelines, presented the new text point by point, including the amendments. According to the bishop, almost 901 of the amendments received were incorporated into the final text. “Always preserving the unity, coherence, and overall perspective of the text,” Dom Leomar emphasized. “We did our best to ensure that this text is a true expression of our shared journey.”

At the end of the presentation of the guidelines by Bishop Leomar, the bishops gave a standing ovation, recognizing all the work of the commission and its commitment in a spirit of true communion, as highlighted by Archbishop Jaime Spengler of Porto Alegre (RS) and president of the CNBB. "I believe we have a true Pentecost in our hands; this is the work of the Spirit, not ours, it is the work of the Spirit of God," said Archbishop Jaime.

After the text has been corrected, the guidelines will be available in print from CNBB Editions in four weeks.

19th National Eucharistic Congress

Dom João Justino, Archbishop of Goiânia and first vice-president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), spoke to the bishops about the 19th National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held in September 2027 in Goiânia (GO). The event is organized by the Archdiocese of Goiânia in collaboration with the dioceses of the Central-West region of the CNBB, which includes the Federal District and the state of Goiás.

The theme of this edition will be “Living Hosts in the world, for the glory of the Father.” Jesus, who ardently desired to eat the Passover with his disciples (cf. Lk 22:15), instituted in his Body and Blood the New Covenant with humanity, commanding his disciples to repeat that gesture in his memory. At the end of Bishop Justino's speech, the bishops prayed together the prayer of the 19th National Eucharistic Congress.

CNBB Editions

Monsignor Jamil Alves de Souza, general director of CNBB Editions, spoke to the bishops about the publishing house, highlighting some of its published works. CNBB Editions is the official publishing house dedicated to the publication, dissemination, and distribution of documents and resources from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil and other Church bodies. Its catalog includes books, pamphlets, magazines, and digital content, focusing on supporting the evangelizing mission.

Monsignor Jamil also presented a new development being prepared by CNBB Editions: a Bible mobile application and the CNBB Digital library, with official texts for mobile devices. “The project includes a reading path guided by the Lectio Divina method, full access to the Liturgy of the Word and official biblical commentaries. On the web, the CNBB Digital library will centralize the entire collection of Church documents with search capabilities for words and other terms contained in the documents.”.

Endowment Fund for the Cultural Heritage of the Church

The bishops also approved this morning the creation of the Heritage Fund for the Cultural Heritage of the Catholic Church in Brazil. The objective is the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Catholic Church, with studies beginning in 2025. The initiative aims to raise funds to restore and maintain sacred objects.

In September 2025, the Presidency of the CNBB (National Conference of Brazilian Bishops) approved and established the "Working Group on the Philanthropic Endowment Fund for the Cultural Heritage of the Catholic Church in Brazil." Since then, the working group has held several meetings for the technical study of the topic and the development of the conceptual proposal.

Source: CNBB