Who was Divaldo Franco

Divaldo Pereira Franco was born on May 5, 1927, in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, and passed away on May 13, 2025, in Salvador. Medium, lecturer and writer, he was one of the greatest living references of Spiritism for more than seven decades, dedicating his life to consolation, education and the spreading of the Spiritist Doctrine.

The boy from Feira de Santana

Born into a humble family, Divaldo reported from childhood his contact with the spirits and the constant presence of his spiritual mentor, Joanna de Ângelis. Taught to read by his mother, he was still young when he began to psychograph. In 1947, at twenty years old, he moved to Salvador, where his mission would gain worldwide dimension.

The lecturer

Divaldo Franco delivered thousands of lectures and seminars in Brazil and in dozens of countries — the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa — always with the message of the Gospel and of Spiritism translated into simple, profound and welcoming language. His word reached audiences of all beliefs and cultures.

The writer

He psychographed more than 250 books, many of them attributed to Joanna de Ângelis, with themes ranging from self-knowledge to emotional health, from forgiveness to resilience. Works such as Plenitude, Vida Feliz (“Happy Life”) and O Homem Integral (“The Integral Man”) continue to transform readers around the world.

Mansão do Caminho

In 1952, Divaldo Franco and his companion on the journey, Nilson de Souza Pereira, founded in Salvador the Mansão do Caminho (“Mansion of the Way”), a social work that for more than seventy years has sheltered children, adolescents and families in vulnerable situations, offering education, food, health care and moral values. All the income from his books and lectures was destined to the institution.

An example of love in motion

Divaldo Franco taught, with his own life, that charity is the surest path of personal and social transformation. His trajectory — from the poor boy of the Bahian backlands to the speaker who moved audiences around the world — is proof that service to others and reasoned faith build a life full of meaning.

For the Portuguese-speaking community in the United States, his lectures and books have been a living bridge between Brazilian Spiritism and the world — and they remain so, in recordings and in print, after his passing in 2025.