LAKE NONA | In 2023, the Brazilian Consulate General in Orlando estimated there were around 200,000 Brazilians living in Central Florida, immigrants from the country with the largest Catholic population in the world. However, at that time only one parish in the diocese, Resurrection in Winter Garden, offered Mass celebrated in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.
It was around this time the former pastor of Resurrection approached Father Derek Saldanha, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in St. Cloud, about the possibility of starting a Portuguese Mass in St. Cloud. Portuguese-speaking Catholics would travel from as far as Kissimmee, St. Cloud, and Lake Nona to participate in the celebration of Mass at Resurrection.
“We were able to organize the community, to step up, to provide the choir and all the liturgical arrangements,” Father Saldanha said. “With this support, I started the Mass, and we started on the first Sunday of Lent in 2024.”
Fred Justo is the coordinator for the Portuguese Mass community, a position he assumed about a month after the new Mass started at St. Thomas Aquinas. Originally from Brazil, his company transferred him to Central Florida six years ago. A lifelong Catholic, he began attending the Masses in English offered at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish in Lake Nona.
Then three years ago, he and his wife lost their daughter just before her second birthday.
“After the situation, me and my wife… need(ed) to be more close to (God),” Justo said. “We need(ed) to serve God.”
They turned to a local chapter of the Shalom Catholic Community in Winter Garden. The community is an international private association of the faithful, founded in Fortaleza, Brazil in 1982.
Father Saldanha reached out to the community to help begin the Portuguese Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas. Although Justo had never served in any ministries before, he decided to volunteer. “We started this beautiful journey with Father Derek,” recalled Justo. “It’s a difficult journey… when you are trying to evangelize the enemy (doesn’t) help you too much.” He recalled there are many situations where he had to put his faith in God. “This journey is a blessed journey but a difficulty journey at the same time,” Justo said. Despite the challenges, his faith has grown “more than 1,000 percent” since his daughter passed.
Eight months after the Masses began, the ministry hit a major roadblock.
The priest who regularly celebrated the Portuguese Mass was called back to ministry in Brazil. “On his last day, a lot of people (came) to me and said, ‘Oh, Fred, this was really nice these eight months, but we’re not going to have Mass anymore,’” Justo recalled.
Father Saldanha assured him the Mass would continue every Sunday. With help from Capuchin Franciscan Father Abel Noel, Father Nazaire Massillon, parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena in Kissimmee, and a rotating cast of local and visiting priests, they always had a priest to celebrate Mass. Over the last two and a half years, they have never missed a Sunday.
The ministry has grown beyond offering Mass every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. In addition to liturgical ministries, they began offering Confirmation classes and OCIA in Portuguese and retreats throughout the year. Father Saldanha started a prayer group and a family Rosary that takes place monthly.
They also hold Cafezinho once a month, which means little coffee in Portuguese. Everybody brings a plate of food and drinks and has an opportunity to socialize after Mass. “We use this time to make new friends, to (get to) know more people inside the community,” shared Justo. “In the Brazilian community, everybody is the first generation here.” Many Brazilians have immigrated to Central Florida, many leaving their entire family, friends, and community behind. “When you go to (Church), you are trying to find friends or family,” he added. Justo notes many do not know English or are hesitant to converse in English because they are still learning the language. Monthly gatherings like Cafezinho allow them to build relationships among a community that shared similar experiences and hardships.
On Aug. 30, St. Thomas Aquinas celebrated its final Portuguese Mass. “When the bishop named me as (parochial administrator) of St. Cabrini, and I realized that 80% of (the Brazilian community) live (near Lake Nona), I thought it made more sense to move the Mass there,” said Father Saldanha. Beginning Sunday, Sept. 6, the Portuguese Mass will move from St. Thomas Aquinas Parish to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish. “I also was able to work out the Mass schedule so that the Portuguese Mass can be at 9 a.m. in the morning, which is more convenient for the families,” said Father Saldanha. Not only will St. Cabrini continue to offer Masses celebrated in Portuguese, but there will also be faith formation classes in Portuguese for children and adults.
For a long time, with no Catholic Mass nearby offering Mass in Portuguese, many Brazilians attended Protestant services offered in their native tongue. Upon learning one such church had a specific ministry dedicated to former Catholics, Father Saldanha recalled feeling distressed. “That upset me a lot, and so, my hope is that with this new Mass now at 9 a.m., we will be able to create a place where the Portuguese speaking Catholic Brazilian population feels welcomed, where they can bring and express their Catholic traditions and faith, which is very rich… and have a space to do that.” He hopes offering Mass in Portuguese will allow families to remain rooted in a Catholic community.
While the Portuguese Mass community is known for celebrating feasts like Our Lady of Aparecida, the biggest liturgical difference between an English and Portuguese language Mass is the music. “We try to get, like, happy music inside the (liturgy) so we can make the community (happier) because they like (to) sing together,” Justo said. “When we have a more animated music, we make (the congregation) be part of the Mass.” With Father Saldanha’s guidance, they have adapted musical arrangements to be more traditional, in keeping the solemnity and reverence required by the liturgy.
“One unique feature of Lake Nona and St. Cabrini is the diversity… we are blessed to have this diversity,” says Father Saldanha. “My experience over the last two and a half years in St. Thomas Aquinas was geared towards building one family of faith that included English, Spanish, and Portuguese (speakers).” To foster this community, the priests at St. Thomas Aquinas are involved in all three communities. “It starts from the top,” Father Saldanha says. Over time, he has learned enough Portuguese to celebrate the Mass in Portuguese, although he has a deacon give the homily.
Father Saldanha anticipates other parishes will be called meet the needs of the Portuguese-speaking community as the population continues to grow in Central Florida. “I foresee at least another two parishes having Portuguese (Masses) in the next two years,” he says. Last fall, Justo helped begin the Portuguese Mass at the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando which is celebrated every Sunday at 4 p.m. Father Saldanha shares he is working with the diocese to bring more Portuguese speaking priests from Brazil to help minister to this growing population.
Justo is excited for this next chapter at St. Cabrini. “Right now, I’m coming back with a leadership of the one community,” said Justo. “I have more responsibilities right now… but I feel more like, well, back home. I’m still really happy, me and my family, because we’re going to be part of a history of (St.) Cabrini.” In addition to the new Mass, the parish plans to begin construction on their very first church building next year.
Regardless of an individual’s race, culture, or native language, Catholic parishes continue to serve the Body of Christ. “We are here to serve everybody, and the ministries of the parish are here to serve everybody. They are here to form disciples. We are here to bring people into an encounter with Christ,” said Father Saldanha. “Our identity is we are Catholics. We are here to grow in faith and to serve everybody.”
By Lucas Blackwell of the Florida Catholic staff, September 4, 2026