The first community of the secular fraternity of Belém (Pará, Brazil) was formed on the 5th of May 1982. The Augustinian Recollects who organized the group have been working in this great Brazilian northern city since 1899. Belém, the capital of the State of Pará, has, at present, a population of one million and a half. It is located at the mouth of the Amazon river near the great island of Marajó, a territory also entrusted to the Augustinian Recollect missionaries since 1928.
It was last May 10 when the voting members of the fraternity, in accordance with their statutes, gathered to elect a new president to substitute Doña Francisca Raquel L. S. Alencar. Irsef Iván A. Souza came out elected and with him were three new councilors. The new council proceeded immediately to name new candidates for the office of the treasurer, the heads of the commission on liturgy and spirituality. It was also an opportune time to prepare the program of activities for the second semester of the year, the topics for reflection and the celebration of the first three decades of the lay Augustinian Recollection in the city. The event will take place next May 2012