Fr Enio Ramalho Esteves, a missionary originally from Timor-Leste, made his first profession on 24 July 2002 in Fatumaca and was ordained a priest on 24 May 2014 at the Salesian mission in Bomboiza.
Fr Enio was assigned to Ecuador as a Missionary Ad Gentes on 27 September 2008, to serve among the Shuar and Achuar indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon. After completing his theological studies in Colombia and being ordained deacon, he was sent to the Salesian Santo Domingo Savio Mission in Bomboiza (2014-2017), where he served as Vice-Rector, Councillor, Parish Priest and Economer. He was then assigned to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Community at the Yaupi Salesian Mission (2017-2020), where he served as Rector, Economer and Parish Priest. In 2023, he was assigned to the Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá Community in Wasakentsa, where he served as Parish Priest and Vice-Rector.
Fr Enio was a priest who was wholeheartedly dedicated to his mission, particularly among the Shuar and Achuar peoples, whom he loved and served with great evangelical fidelity. His life was marked by a clear and constant ideal: to proclaim the Word of God to children and young people, to accompany them in their human and spiritual growth and to make them feel that God walks with them.
With simplicity and kindness he knew how to integrate himself into the dynamics of Ecuadorian communities, sharing their daily life, respecting their culture, learning from the people and building authentic relationships. He was not a distant missionary but a brother who listened, accompanied and encouraged with his presence.
He was a Salesian who deeply loved community life. For him, sport was a language of encounter, an educational and fraternal space where bonds were strengthened and values cultivated. Fr Enio was also a good, loyal, cheerful friend, and always available, someone who knew how to be present, to share, and who left an indelible mark on all those who had the grace to know him.
The Salesian Province of Ecuador thanks God for his life of dedication, for his silent but fruitful witness and for the good he sowed in so many hearts. His memory will remain alive in the communities he served and in the young people he accompanied. ‘We entrust his life to the Lord,’ they write from Ecuador, ‘whom he served with joy, and we believe that he now rests in His arms, as a good and faithful servant, with 23 years of religious profession and 11 years of priesthood.’
Fr Juan Flores, SDB
Vice-Provincial
