THE PROMISED COMFORTER
Institutions
The houses and works that carried Spiritism into the world — the great charities of Brazil and the federations that unite a worldwide movement.
Charity with an address
Spiritism has always measured itself by works. Behind the books and the biographies stand institutions — schools, clinics, shelters and federations built by the people of this movement and kept alive by volunteers to this day. This page gathers the essential ones, in Brazil and beyond, each with a link to its official home on the web.
Lar de Frei Luiz
Born of a message received in 1947 and founded in 1964 by the physician Luiz da Rocha Lima, the “Mini-City of Love” runs a daycare for more than 300 small children, a school, a home for the elderly and a free clinic — and is famous across Brazil for the materialization sessions reported there.
Mansão do Caminho
Divaldo Franco’s life work, founded with Nilson de Souza Pereira on 15 August 1952. Today it is a complex of 44 buildings on 78,000 square metres that receives some 5,000 people a day, free of charge: schools from daycare to high school, health care in dozens of specialties, and assistance for thousands of families.
Federação Espírita Brasileira
Founded on 2 January 1884 in Rio de Janeiro and headquartered today in Brasília, the FEB is the national house of the world’s largest Spiritist movement — and one of its great publishers, keeping Kardec’s Codification and hundreds of Spiritist titles in print for well over a century.
International Spiritist Council
Created on 28 November 1992 in Madrid by the national federations, the ISC (CEI) unites the Spiritist movement of some 35 countries, promotes the study and translation of Kardec’s works, and organizes the World Spiritist Congress every three years.
United States Spiritist Federation
Founded on 15 November 1997 — as the United States Spiritist Council — the USSF unites the Spiritist centers of the United States, runs courses and national gatherings such as the U.S. Spiritist Symposium, and keeps the national directory of centers.
This page is about the movement’s great institutions. If what you need is a place to visit, study or ask for support near you, our Centers page lists Spiritist centers across the United States, state by state.