Brazilian Cardinal Damasceno Assis resigns irrevocably as commissioner of Heralds of the Gospel amid controversy over book reporting unproven sanctions and procedural flaws.
Newsroom (20/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, the Brazilian prelate appointed in 2019 as pontifical commissioner for the Heralds of the Gospel, has tendered a “unilateral and irrevocable” resignation from the role, according to reports from the Vatican-watching blog Specola, published by InfoVaticana.
The 88-year-old cardinal, born in Capela Nova, Brazil, in 1937, was ordained a priest in 1968 after theological studies at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University. He served as auxiliary bishop of Brasília for 18 years before his appointment as archbishop of Aparecida in 2004, a position he held until 2016. Elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Benedict XVI in the consistory of November 20, 2010, Damasceno Assis presided over the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) from 2007 to 2011 and the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops from 2011 to 2015. In that capacity, he played a key role in organizing the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, held in Aparecida in May 2007.
Damasceno Assis was named pontifical commissioner for the Heralds of the Gospel – an international association of pontifical right with branches of consecrated life – by decree of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on September 21, 2019. The appointment followed an apostolic visitation led by Cardinal Jaime Spengler and came amid concerns over governance, vocational formation, and administrative practices within the group.
The resignation emerges against the backdrop of renewed controversy sparked by the recent publication of a book titled El Comisariado de los Heraldos del Evangelio – Sancionados sin Diálogo, sin pruebas, sin defensa – Cronología de los Hechos 2017-2025 (“The Commissariat of the Heralds of the Gospel: Sanctioned Without Dialogue, Evidence, or Defense – Chronology of Events 2017-2025”). Authored by two members of the association – canonist José Manuel Jiménez Aleixandre and philosopher Juliane Vasconcelos Almeida – the 700-plus-page volume documents the intervention’s timeline and alleges procedural irregularities.
Prominent Vatican analyst Andrea Gagliarducci, in a review, described the case as part of Pope Francis’s legacy involving “a suspension and an intervention postponed sine die due to accusations never truly proven,” noting that all 30 related civil proceedings ended in dismissal or acquittal. Gagliarducci highlighted the Heralds as one of the Church’s most dynamic realities, present in 78 countries and the first religious association erected by the Holy See in the third millennium, praised by St. John Paul II for promoting a “civilization of love.”
According to the book’s account, Damasceno Assis traveled to Rome in February 2024 anticipating the commissariat’s conclusion after extensive statutory reforms. He met with Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, but was reportedly was flatly refused an audience by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life. At the beginning of March, Cardinal Damasceno received a communication from Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, in which it was stated: “in Your Excellency’s opinion, after five years of monitoring, the time has come to conclude the mission entrusted to you by the Supreme Pontiff.” But further on, the letter denied this possibility, stating that “in the opinion of this Dicastery, the areas of verification and intervention” indicated by the decree of commissioning have not been sufficiently explored.
As of November 20, 2025, the Vatican has not issued an official response to the resignation or commented on the book’s claims. The future of the Heralds’ commissariat remains uncertain.
- Raju Hasmukh with files form ACI prensa, Infovaticana and Gaudium Press (Spanish)
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