The Church of Saint Joseph, the place chosen in September 1943 to host the celebration of the 7th-day Mass for Father Eustáquio, was elevated to a Sanctuary on the day of its patron saint, March 19th, last Friday.

The solemn announcement was made by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte and president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), Dom Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, who presided over the mass in the church located in the center of the capital of Minas Gerais, without the presence of the faithful due to the worsening pandemic.

The Eucharistic celebration of the creation of The Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Saint Joseph also marks the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as patron saint of the Church.

Elevation to Sanctuary

A church or other sacred place becomes a sanctuary when a large number of faithful, for some special reason of piety, make pilgrimages there, with the approval of the local Church authority (bishop or archbishop).

Within the territory of the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, which encompasses 28 municipalities, there are 11 sanctuaries, five of which are in the capital, including the Sanctuary of Health and Peace, the church of Father Eustáquio.

The parish priest of São José Parish and now rector of the sanctuary, the Redemptorist priest José Cláudio Teixeira, highlights the recognition and recalls that the church is a pilgrimage center for both residents and people from neighboring municipalities: “It is a place of evangelization, of faith, which has long been a sanctuary in the hearts of the people. Before the new coronavirus pandemic, about a thousand people attended Sunday Mass.”.

***with information from the newspaper Estado de Minas (em.com.br)