Bishop of Campo Limpo
Valdir José de Castro is Bishop of Campo Limpo, São Paulo, Brazil. Valdir José de Castro, S.S.P., was born on 14 February 1961 in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Diocese of Piracicaba, in the State of São Paulo. He studied philosophy at the University of Caxias do Sul-RS (1981-1983) and theology at the Theological Institute of São Paulo-SP (1984-1987). He obtained a licentiate in spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1992-1994) and attended the journalism course at the University of Caxias do Sul-RS (1996-2000). He later specialized in communication, obtaining a licentiate at Faculdade Cásper Líbero in São Paulo-SP (2001-2004) and a doctorate at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (2012-2016). He made religious profession on 11 February 1981 in the Society of Saint Paul and received priestly ordination on 12 December 1987. Within the religious institute he held the following offices: master of novices (1997-2001); general director of the apostolate of the Paulines in São Paulo-SP (2001-2006); provincial of the Province of Argentina, Chile, and Peru (2007-2011); and provincial of the Province of São Paulo (2012-2015). From 2015 to 2022 he was superior general of the Society of Saint Paul in Rome.