Salomão Barbosa Ferraz

Who was Salomão Barbosa Ferraz?

Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was a Brazilian priest and Bishop whose career took him through membership of several Christian denominations from the Presbyterian Church to the Roman Catholic Church.

Ferraz was born in Jaú, Brazil. Originally a Presbyterian Minister, Barbosa Ferraz was ordained an Anglican Priest in 1917. He founded an ecumenical society, the "Order of Saint Andrew", in 1928, and was instrumental in organising a 'Free Catholic Congress' in 1936. At the close of this event he established a "Free Catholic Church" and was elected as the church's first Bishop. The Second World War halted his plans to be consecrated Bishop by European Old Catholics, but Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was eventually consecrated Bishop by Carlos Duarte Costa following this Bishop's excommunication by the Vatican in 1945.

Salomão Barbosa Ferraz in turn consecrated Manoel Ceia Laranjeira for the Free Catholic Church of Brazil in 1951, but sought reception into the Roman Catholic Church, which he achieved under Pope John XXIII, leaving Manoel Ceia Laranjeira at the head of the Free Catholic Church, then renamed Independent Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil.