Roy Joseph Shea (1943-2024)
Born in Prince Edward Island, Canada
on August 22, 1943
First vows on March 8, 1966
Ordained priest on September 28, 1986
Missionary in Brazil
Died in Ourilandia do Norte, Brazil
on October 7, 2024, at the age of 81
Roy Joseph Shea was born into a large family on August 22, 1943, in Prince Edward Island, Canada. His father, Gerald Berteen Shea, was a farmer with 18 children, and Roy could quickly recite the names of all his brothers and sisters like a litany.
As a young man searching for meaning in life, Roy discovered the CICM's missionary path through a magazine. At Missionhurst, he received formation to become a CICM brother.
After his formation, he was sent to the newly established mission in Brazil on July 27, 1969, during a period of military dictatorship. After studies at CENFI (Centro de Formação Intercultural), he began his mission in Nova Iguaçu at Our Lady of Fátima Parish in Santa Maria alongside fellow confreres and ICM sisters. In this place, Roy dedicated his life to serving the poorest, especially the sick, among the suffering people of Baixada Fluminense. Countless stories emerged from this time, such as when he helped a woman in labor. Driving her to a maternity ward in the parish's green Toyota, the woman gave birth in the car. Brother Roy—affectionately called Rui—was sought out day and night, always answering calls with love and dedication.
The years passed, and in January 1973, I, Bernard Masson, arrived in Brazil with four other CICM confreres. I was working in Volta Redonda then, and we would meet with the "big team" of CICM and ICM members for moments of reflection, retreats, and camaraderie, often at the Nosso Lar meeting house built by CICM. Brother Roy always made his presence felt in a unique way.
In 1979, the Province of Brazil initiated a significant effort to begin a new mission in the Amazon forest in Pará. Many families of farmers from other states settled on plots offered within the virgin forest along Estrada PA-70, a road opened during this time of military dictatorship. In February 1979, we began this new mission in the dioceses of Bragança and Marabá with four teams. Brother Roy and I were assigned to start in the small village of Abel Figueiredo, 92 kilometers from the city of Marabá, where Dom Alano Pena was the bishop of the prelature. Being a son of the land himself, Roy easily adapted to this rural environment, starkly contrasting the bustling city of Nova Iguaçu.
The Church in Brazil in these years was profoundly prophetic, with pastoral agents trained and animated by Liberation Theology, which was born in Latin America and profoundly influenced pastoral-missionary action. In this sense, CICM opted for a very simple lifestyle close to that of poor people. And our brother Roy shared this life with all his radicality. In Abel Figueiredo, our teachers included American Sister Rebeca, who worked with the indigenous people and encouraged Roy in this missionary field. The Surui and Paracanã Indians became his friends. Sister Dorothy was also a guide in rural work, tirelessly defending exploited and threatened communities from land grabbers. Violence in the countryside was an everyday occurrence. Her tragic murder by gunmen hired by large landowners only strengthened our mission; her blood became a source of new life in the Amazon.
Roy and I lived in a small house in Abel Figueiredo without permanent electricity for years. Electricity was available from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and we relied on rainwater. We missionaries traveled on foot, by horseback, and in a Toyota truck to visit people in the forest, celebrating sacraments under trees. Families welcomed us into their small, simple homes, where we shared meals that restored our strength and rested in hammocks.
Our mission was filled with challenges, joys, and hardships—catching malaria, enduring other illnesses, and even handling emergencies. Once, I had to rush Roy, who accidentally poisoned himself by eating raw mushrooms, 40 kilometers to the nearest hospital. In our regular team meetings with others from the North, CICM confreres, ICM and Brazilian sisters, we shared many stories of resilience.
Roy felt a calling to deepen his pastoral mission by becoming a priest. He entered the seminary in the Amazon city of Santarém, and on September 28, 1986, he was ordained a priest in Marabá. His two brothers and two sisters traveled from Canada to witness his ordination. Roy celebrated his first Mass in the new parish of Itupiranga, where Luis Rymen was parish priest. He developed a close bond with poor and abandoned children, welcoming them into his home to live and study. Due to violence in the area and his outspoken advocacy, he was eventually advised to leave to protect his life.
In 1998, Roy began his last mission in Água Azul, where he served as parish priest until 2022. Far from his fellow missionaries, he established deep roots in the community, forming close bonds with many suffering people, and he helped them overcome poverty. His departure in 2022 was painful for everyone he had touched.
Later, he retired in a CICM community in Nova Iguaçu, 2,500 km from Água Azul. When he accepted an invitation to celebrate a marriage for a friend, he returned to his beloved mission area. Unexpectedly, this visit would mark his final farewell to the place he held so dear.
Finally, in Água Azul, he took his last breath, as he had always dreamed of doing among his loved ones in this distant Pará, a dream that, in the mysteries of life, our Lord allowed him to realize. The burial took place in the Matriz of Água Azul, the church he built with the help of many benefactors.
- Bernard Masson §
