Bishop of Penedo
Valdemir Ferreira dos Santos was born on March 30, 1960, in Nova Canaã, in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vitória da Conquista, in the State of Bahia. He pursued his philosophy studies at the Major Seminary of the Diocese of Teófilo Otoni and at the *Faculdades Adamantinenses Integradas* in São Paulo, and his theology studies at the Pontifical Faculty *Nossa Senhora da Assunção*. He obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. On September 6, 1987, he was ordained a priest for the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vitória da Conquista, where he held the following roles: Coordinator of Catechesis and Vocational Pastoral Care; Spiritual Director of the *Cursilhos de Cristandade* Movement; Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and the Lay Formation Center; Parish Priest; Vice-Rector and subsequently Rector of the Philosophy Seminary; Rector of the Propaedeutic Seminary; Director of the Permanent Deacons' Training School; Episcopal Vicar; Archdiocesan Bursar; and member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors. Furthermore, he collaborated with the Catechesis Coordination team for the Northeast 3 Region of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB). On March 17, 2010, he was appointed Bishop of Floriano and received episcopal ordination on May 30, 2010. On May 4, 2016, he was transferred to the See of Amargosa. He served as vice-president and later president of the Municipal Council for Children and Adolescents (1996–1997), rector of the Propaedeutic Seminary (1997), and director of the Archdiocesan School for Diaconal Formation (2007), among other roles. Prior to his episcopal appointment, he was a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors, as well as the archdiocesan bursar. Dom Valdemir was appointed Bishop of Floriano (PI) by Pope Benedict XVI on March 17, 2010. His ordination took place on May 30 of that year, attended by the then-Archbishop of Vitória da Conquista, Dom Luís Gonzaga Pepeu, and his predecessor, Dom Geraldo Lyrio Rocha—who was president of the CNBB at the time. On May 4, 2016, he was appointed Bishop of Amargosa, transferring from the see of Floriano. His episcopal motto is "Pasce oves meas" (Feed my sheep) – John 21:17. He studied philosophy from 1992 to 1994, and theology in 1995.