João Scognamiglio Clá Dias

João Scognamiglio Clá Dias (born 15 August 1939 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and religious writer. He is the founder of the Heralds of the Gospel and was their Superior General until his resignation on 2 June 2017. He has been a member of the Marian Congregations, of the Third Carmelite Order, since 23 May 1956, and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 15 June 2004, aged 64 years old.

Early life and studies
Clá Dias is the son of a Spanish father, António Clá Díaz, born in Ceuta, and Annita Scognamiglio, born in São Paulo to Italian immigrant parents. He studied law at the Faculty of the Largo de São Francisco, in São Paulo. He has degrees in philosophy and theology at the Italian-Brazilian Universitarian Center, of São Paulo. He also is licentiated in Humanities by the Pontifícia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, of the Dominican Republic, a Master in Canon Law by the Pontifício Instituto de Direito Canônico of Rio de Janeiro, and a Doctorate in Canon Law by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, in Rome.

Heralds of the Gospel
Throughout the 20th century, Clá Dias was involved in several Catholic apostolates in Brazil. He decided to found the Heralds of the Gospel, a religious order, on 21 September 1999 and it was recognized on 22 February 2001 as an International Association of Pontifical Right by the Holy See. In 2005, he decided that the Heralds should have priests to improve their spiritual lives, and he, along with some other important Heralds, were ordained to the priesthood. He was Superior General from their inception until his resignation on 2 June 2017, announced on 12 June 2017.

Works
He already published several books, including O Inédito sobre os Evangelhos (2013-2016), in 7 volumes, translated into English as New Insights on the Gospels, and his biography of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, O Dom de Sabedoria na Mente, Vida e Obra de Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (2016), in 5 volumes.