Porto, Franklin Mendonça (1896–1990)
By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP
The Brazilian White Center – UNASP is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. Bruno Sales Gomes Ferreira provided technical support. The following names are of team members: Adriane Ferrari Silva, Álan Gracioto Alexandre, Allen Jair Urcia Santa Cruz, Camila Chede Amaral Lucena, Camilla Rodrigues Seixas, Daniel Fernandes Teodoro, Danillo Alfredo Rios Junior, Danilo Fauster de Souza, Débora Arana Mayer, Elvis Eli Martins Filho, Felipe Cardoso do Nascimento, Fernanda Nascimento Oliveira, Gabriel Pilon Galvani, Giovana de Castro Vaz, Guilherme Cardoso Ricardo Martins, Gustavo Costa Vieira Novaes, Ingrid Sthéfane Santos Andrade, Isabela Pimenta Gravina, Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Jhoseyr Davison Voos dos Santos, João Lucas Moraes Pereira, Kalline Meira Rocha Santos, Larissa Menegazzo Nunes, Letícia Miola Figueiredo, Luan Alves Cota Mól, Lucas Almeida dos Santos, Lucas Arteaga Aquino, Lucas Dias de Melo, Matheus Brabo Peres, Mayla Magaieski Graepp, Milena Guimarães Silva, Natália Padilha Corrêa, Rafaela Lima Gouvêa, Rogel Maio Nogueira Tavares Filho, Ryan Matheus do Ouro Medeiros, Samara Souza Santos, Sergio Henrique Micael Santos, Suelen Alves de Almeida, Talita Paim Veloso de Castro, Thais Cristina Benedetti, Thaís Caroline de Almeida Lima, Vanessa Stehling Belgd, Victor Alves Pereira, Vinicios Fernandes Alencar, Vinícius Pereira Nascimento, Vitória Regina Boita da Silva, William Edward Timm, Julio Cesar Ribeiro, Ellen Deó Bortolotte, Maria Júlia dos Santos Galvani, Giovana Souto Pereira, Victor Hugo Vaz Storch, and Dinely Luana Pereira.
First Published: July 14, 2021
Franklin Mendonça Porto was a teacher, lawyer and jurist in Brazil. He made special contribution to keeping open the Adventist Church in Brazil during World War II.
Franklin Mendonça Porto was born on December 27, 1896, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was married to Maria Cândida Mendonça Porto, with whom he had three children, Rubem, Eunice and Léa. Franklin dedicated 34 years of his career serving to the Seventh-day Adventist Church,1 of which 27 were at the South Brazil Union Conference, from 1941 to 1968.2 In addition, from 1940 to 1942 he taught History and Geography for primary education at Brazil College (today UNASP-SP).3
Dr. Franklin was present in decisive periods for the Adventist Church in Brazil. During World War II, when Brazil joined the conflict against Germany, the Church in Brazil went through delicate moments, since a group of its members was of Germanic origin, and many Adventist primary schools functioned in the German language. For this reason, they were all closed by the government. In this context, Dr. Franklin had an important role in the lawsuit process of their reopening.4
Still in times of war, Pastor Rodolpho Belz, who was the South Brazil Union Conference president, received a telegram from one of the fields saying: "The revolt has started". Belz was then summoned by the authorities to testify, being almost arrested, until he proved that the telegrapher typed a different letter in the word "ingathering" changing its meaning to "revolt" in the Portuguese (recolta by revolta).5 Dr. Franklin Porto was the one who defended him in this cause and the misunderstanding was recognized and everything ended peacefully.6
Franklin Porto was retired from the South Brazil Union Conference legal sector in 1968, being replaced by Dr. Erich Olm. He passed away in 1990, at 94 years of age. Erich Olm, on the day of Franklin’s funeral, declared: “Dr. Franklin was a lawyer who never lost a case; even opposing lawyers became his friends.”7 Sometimes he found himself in difficult situations, and many of his opponents were powerful, but he was not intimidated, as he kept his faith firm in God. Dr. Franklin used to say that “the knees have always won the cases. Never did I or anyone else solve anything, but our knees in prayer did”. Despite scarce information about his personal life, Franklin Porto is remembered for his Christian influence and dependence on God during decades of service to the Adventist Church in Brazil.8
Sources
“Assembleias da União Sul-Brasileira, Colégio Adventista e Casa Publicadora Brasileira.” Revista Adventista, year 44, no. 2, February, 1949.
Nigri, Moyses S. Andando com Deus todos os dias. 1st edition, Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 1993.
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941-1943, 1945, 1948.
Valle, Artur de Souza. “Manchetes da União Sul-Brasileira.” Revista Adventista, year 63, no. 10, October, 1968.
Valle, Artur de Souza. “Manchetes da União Sul-Brasileira.” Revista Adventista, year 64, no. 1, January, 1969.
Notes
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Moyses S. Nigri, “Andando com Deus todos os dias (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 1993),” 97; Information from Léa Porto to the South Brazil Union, granted to Ellen G. White Research Center, São Paulo, March 2, 2020.↩
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“South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1942), 143; Valle, Artur de Souza, “Manchetes da União Sul-Brasileira,” Revista Adventista, year 64, no. 1, January, 1969, 29.↩
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“Brazil Junior College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941), 256; “Brazil Junior College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1943), 213.↩
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Nigri, 97.↩
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Translator's note: In Portuguese, the words recolta [ingathering] and revolta [revolt] are written in a very similar way, what caused the confusion.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Artur de Souza Valle, “Manchetes da União Sul-Brasileira,” Revista Adventista, year 64, no. 01, January, 1969, 29; Nigri, 97.↩
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Nigri, 97.↩