Archbishop of Chapecó
Archbishop-elect Odelir José Magri, M.C.C.J., was born on 18 April 1963 in Campo Erê, diocese of Chapecó, in the State of Santa Catarina. He studied philosophy at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná in Curitiba-PR, and theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris. He attended a course for seminary formators organized in São Paulo-SP in collaboration with the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome. On 26 June 1988 he gave his religious vows in the Congregation of Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, receiving priestly ordination on 18 October 1992. He has held the following offices: missionary in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he was also formator of postulants, formator and parish priest in São Paulo-SP, provincial counsellor, master of novices and superior of the community in Contagem-MG, deputy provincial superior, assistant general, and then vicar general in Rome. On 11 October 2010 he was appointed bishop of Sobral, receiving episcopal ordination the following 12 December. On 3 December 2014 he was transferred as bishop of Chapecó. Within the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (NCBB), he has served as chair of the Episcopal Commission of Missionary Action and Inter-ecclesial Cooperation, and is currently president of the NCBB Region Sul 4.