About this ebook
The work “New Insights on the Gospels,” beyond being exegetical and pastoral, has the merit of making theology accessible to all readers regardless of social status or academic level. To soar in the heights of Theology, what is needed, more than culture or intelligence, is faith. Faith enables us to penetrate truths and mysteries that lie beyond the reach of human understanding. When it comes to believing, higher learning or intellectual capacity is not of consequence; what truly matters is having a soul that is open to God’s light. It is only in the Catholic Faith that today’s world will find answers to the problems that perturb it. Perhaps this explains the growing interest among the faithful in deepening their knowledge of Catholic Doctrine.
Could this be the reason for the successful publication of the first volumes of this collection? Published in four languages—English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese—its first edition quickly ran out, achieving a circulation of almost seventy thousand copies. Saving precious teachings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church from falling into oblivion, it is a response to the worthy and emphatic recommendation of the Second Vatican Council of giving primacy to Thomism (cf. Optatam totius, n.16) in the study of the mysteries of salvation. The work has met wide acceptance among priests, for whom it is mainly intended, to serve as a resource in homily preparation. But it has met an equally warm reception among the lay faithful who are eager to broaden their religious knowledge.
This may be a unique symptom of the spiritual condition of our age: the thirst for the divine. It is a thirst that increases as it is quenched, causing neither distress nor pain but only joy for those who seek to satisfy it in the crystalline springs of the Word of God.
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About the author
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias is an honorary canon of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, and Protonotary Apostolic. He is the founder of the International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right Heralds of the Gospel, the Clerical Society of Apostolic Life Virgo Flos Carmeli, and the Feminine Society of Apostolic Life Regina Virginum, entities of pontifical right, active in 78 countries.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on August 15, 1939. His parents, Antonio 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.
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 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.” He has degrees in Philosophy and Theology from the Italo-Brazilian University in São Paulo and a Humanities Doctorate from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, in the Dominican Republic. He also has a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (more commonly known as the Angelicum), in Rome; and in Theology from the Universidad Pontifícia Bolivariana, in Medellin, Colombia.
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. Msgr. João Clá Dias is the 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 recognized on April 4, 2009, by the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
Inspired by a desire for greater dedication to Our Lord and his brethren, Msgr. João Clá prepared for the priestly ministry along with some of his companions. Because of the role which the Third Order of Carmel played in the founding of the Heralds of the Gospel, it was a Carmelite prelate, the Most Rev. Lucio Angelo Renna, then Bishop of Avezzano, Italy, who welcomed the first priests of this Association.
They – including Msgr. João Clá – were ordained on June 15, 2005, in the same Carmelite Basilica where almost 50 years previously Msgr. João had begun his activities at the service of the Church and his fellow Christians. The ceremony was honoured with the presence of Cardinal Cláudio Hummes (Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy). Seven bishops concelebrated the Eucharist along with seventy priests.
Msgr. João Clá founded, together with these first priests of the Heralds of the Gospel, the Priestly Society of Apostolic Life Virgo Flos Carmeli, approved on April 4, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI. Msgr. João Clá is the present Superior General of Virgo Flos Carmeli.
He has written widely distributed works (some surpassing one million copies), published in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French, Polish and Albanian: “Fatima, Dawn of the Third Millennium,” “The Rosary, the Prayer of Peace,” “Sacred Heart of Jesus, Treasure of Goodness and Love,” “The Miraculous Medal, its History and the Celestial Promises,” “Via Sacra,” “Jacinta and Francisco, the Chosen Ones of Mary,” “Daily Prayers,” “The Mother of Good Counsel of Genazzano,” “Dona Lucilia” and “Commentaries on the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception.” His doctoral thesis in Canon Law is entitled “The Genesis and Development of the Movement Heralds of the Gospel and its Canonical Recognition” and the one in Theology is “The Gift of Wisdom in the Mind, Life and Work of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira”.
He is the founder of and regular contributor to the monthly magazine Heralds of the Gospel, published in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, with a total circulation of nearly one million. Since 2002, he has written a commentary on the Gospel for each issue. He is also a regular contributor to the academic publication “Lumen Veritatis,” published by the University of the Heralds of the Gospel, which was inaugurated in October 2007, due mainly to his initiative.
With the necessity of the intellectual, spiritual and doctrinal formation of the Heralds of the Gospel in view, Msgr. João Clá founded the Aristotilean-Thomistic Philosophical Institute (IFAT) and the St. Thomas Aquinas Theological Institute (ITTA); as well as the St. Scholastica Philosophical-Theological Institute (IFTE) for the feminine branch. In order to promote the development of vocations amongst youth, he encouraged the opening of secondary schools, such as Lumen Veritatis Academy in Toronto, Canada, among many others.
In an effort to enhance benevolent apostolic works, he created the charitable “Mercy” foundation, within the Heralds of the Gospel Association in Brazil. It gathers donations through mass mailings.
The construction of Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica, at the Seminary of the Heralds of the Gospel, is one of his most recent undertakings. The Monastery of Mount Carmel, of the SocietyRegina Virginum was recently completed, due, once again, to his untiring efforts.
He is a member of the Società Internazionale Tommaso d’Aquino (SITA), of the Marial Academy of Aparecida (Brazil) and of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate. He received awards from several countries for his cultural and scientific work, including the Medalha de Ciências of Mexico and a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Centro Universitário Ítalo-Brasileiro in São Paulo.
On the 15 of August 2009, the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in recognition of all the work carried out by Msgr. João Clá at the service of the Church, granted him the “Pro Eclesia et Pontifice” Medal, one of the highest honours awarded by the Holy Father to those who distinguish themselves by their endeavours on behalf of the Church and the Roman Pontiff. The medal was delivered to Msgr. João Clá by Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. Msgr. João Clá is also honorary canon of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, and Protonotary Apostolic.
