Friar Damião Statue, Guarabira
Record: 34 m
Friar Damian Memorial
The Frei Damião Memorial Shrine, located in the city of Guarabira (Paraíba), is an architectural project made up of a museum and a statue in honour of the Capuchin friar Frei Damião de Bozzano, a missionary from the north-east of Brazil. It is currently considered the third largest statue in Brazil.
The inauguration, in December 2004, was attended by more than 50,000 faithful. Partnerships between the Diocese of Guarabira, Guarabira City Hall and the Paraíba state government were involved in its construction.
The shrine was designed by the architect Alexandre Azedo and the Frei Damião Memorial by the Paraíba architect Gilberto Guedes. Construction began on 27 March 2000. The shrine was designed by the Diocese of Guarabira and the then mayor of Guarabira (2000) Léa Toscano and her husband, state deputy Zenóbio Toscano, were also instrumental in its construction.
The site was transformed into a shrine by a decree issued by the then apostolic administrator Dom Jaime Vieira Rocha in 2007, with Father Gaspar Rafael Nunes as its first rector.
On 29 April 2013, Bishop Lucena of Guarabira handed over the Shrine of Friar Damião to the care of the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor, of which the Servant of God Friar Damião was a member. José Walden de Oliveira, OFMcap, was appointed rector. José André da Silva Anselmo, the sixth rector of the Memorial.
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