Rev. Eucinei Antonio de Souza

Fr. Eucinei Antonio de Souza, or simply, Fr. Antonio, was born in Brazil. He’s the oldest of two siblings. He joined the Congregation of the Sons of Divine Providence (Don Orione Fathers) in 1994 in Belo Horizonte - Brazil. In 1996 he made his novitiate in Brasilia, making his first religious profession on January 12, 1997.

Fascinated by the ideal of religious life and humbled by the mystery of the priesthood, he asked to serve the Lord as a religious brother, despite his superior’s recommendation that he became a priest. During his initial formation he spent two years in England-Ireland, serving the elderly and young men who had trouble with the law.

 

Returning to Brazil, the Congregation asked him to take a college degree in Business Management, preparing him to help manage it’s institutions, such as orphanages, colleges, hospitals, etc. Later, he also took a Master’s degree in Management.

Feeling that the Lord was calling him to the mission, in 2004 he was sent to the Philippines, to work with the poor and the handicapped. It was there, among the poor and seeing the great need for holy priests, that he heard the Lord calling him again, this time to the priesthood. He studied philosophy and theology at the St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University in Manila. He was ordained a priest of the Lord on May 12, 2012.

After spending 14 years in the Philippines, Fr. Antonio was sent to the United States, to work at the Madonna Queen of the Universe Shrine in East Boston. There, he had the privilege to serve both the American and the Brazilian Communities.

He is above all a Happy Priest, very grateful for his vocation and very intent on following what the Lord is asking of him.