Pope Francis recognizes the heroic virtue of Guido Schäffer

Witness of Jesus among the sick, the young, and athletes

Caring for Aids sufferers; providing assistance and medical service; and evangelisation work offered to the poor and marginalised in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro characterised the youthful years of Guido Vidal França Schäffer, a young doctor born in 1974, who in the 1990s, together with his then-girlfriend and a priest, started the prayer group Fogo do Espírito Santo in the parish.

Later, after participating in the 1997 family gathering on the occasion of the visit of St. John Paul II to Rio de Janeiro, and in 2000 during a trip to Europe at the beatification of the Brazilian protomartyrs, he decided to enter the seminary.

At the same time as his studies, Guido enthusiastically devoted himself to evangelisation and medical practice. Those who knew him remember his deep friendship with Jesus, his familiarity with biblical texts and the enthusiasm with which he spoke of the Lord.

For the love of God he practised fasting and penance with simplicity and discretion. Even when he took surfing lessons, his favourite sport, he began his training with prayer. In 2009, while at sea on the Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach in Rio de Janeiro, he was hit on the head by his surfboard and drowned.