Bishop José Gislon

He was born on February 23, 1957, in the municipality of Dona Emma, Santa Catarina. He is the third of nine children of Vicente Gislon and Jurema Gislon. He performed his military service from May 1976 to April 1977 at the Army Police barracks in Brasília. In 1978, he entered the Capuchin Friars' Santa Maria Seminary in Engenheiro Gutierrez (Irati, Paraná), where he completed his secondary education and postulancy. He entered the novitiate on January 24, 1981, at the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy (Nossa Senhora das Mercês), and made his first vows on January 24, 1982. He studied philosophy in 1982 and 1983 at the Capuchin Friars' Institute of Philosophy in Ponta Grossa, Paraná. He completed his theology studies at the Paul VI Theological Institute in Londrina. He made his perpetual vows on October 17, 1986, in Irati, Paraná. He was ordained a deacon on November 24, 1987, in Ponta Grossa. He was ordained a priest on May 28, 1988, in the city of Uraí, Paraná. He pursued a master's degree in Church History at the Gregorian University in Rome from October 1992 to January 1996. He served as director of the Our Lady of the Assumption Seminary, coordinator of Regional Vocational Ministry, and parochial vicar in Uraí; guardian, bursar, and master of aspirants at the St. Anthony Convent in Almirante Tamandaré, Paraná; and professor of Church History at the *Studium Theologicum* in Curitiba and at CINTEC (Interdiocesan Center of Theology of Cascavel). He also served as a provincial and local definitor and bursar; secretary for finance, administration, and fraternal service; guardian and bursar of the Our Lady of Mercy Fraternity in Curitiba; and Provincial Minister of the Saint Lawrence of Brindisi Province (covering Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Paraguay). He served as a General Definitor of the Order; in this capacity, he chaired the Order's International Commission for Economic Solidarity. He was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Erexim by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on June 6, 2012. His episcopal ordination took place on August 3, 2012, at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy (Nossa Senhora das Mercês) in Curitiba. His episcopal ministry in the Diocese of Erexim began on August 19, 2012, at St. Joseph's Cathedral (Catedral São José) in Erechim. On June 26, 2019, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Caxias do Sul by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. He took office at the Diocesan Cathedral of Saint Teresa of Ávila on September 8, 2019, during the celebration marking the 85th anniversary of the Diocese's establishment. On March 23, 2023, Dom José was elected president of the University of Caxias do Sul Foundation (FUCS), representing the Diocesan See of Caxias do Sul—one of the founding institutions of the University of Caxias do Sul in 1966. He assumed the role on May 2. His motto: "To love and serve in charity."