Bishop of Novo Hamburgo
João Francisco Salm was born on October 11, 1952, in São Pedro de Alcântara, in the Archdiocese of Florianópolis, in the State of Santa Catarina. He pursued his studies in philosophy at the *Fundação Educacional de Brusque* and in theology at the Theological Institute of Santa Catarina in the Archdiocese of Florianópolis. He subsequently attended a course for formators at the School for Formators in the Archdiocese of São Paulo. He was ordained a priest on July 30, 1979, and incardinated into the clergy of the Archdiocese of Florianópolis, where he held the following positions: formator (1979–1983) and later rector (1984–1991) of the Azambuja Seminary; rector of the Archdiocesan Theological Seminary (1992–2009); pastoral coordinator (2006–2008); head of vocational ministry (1992–2009); parish priest of Santa Terezinha Parish in the city of Brusque (2009–2011); and archdiocesan administrator during the *sede vacante* (2011). Since 2012, he has served as the bursar of the Archdiocese of Florianópolis.