César Moron: 

“The Chico Xavier Association is dedicated primarily to the dissemination of Spiritism” 

The fellow Spiritist from Brazil’s São Paulo state discusses the
goals and principles of the Chico Xavier Association, which
 he directs in the city of Bauru

	César Moron (photo), a retired banker in the city of Bauru, in São Paulo state, is a volunteer worker at the Spiritist Centre Vicente de Paulo and president of the Chico Xavier Association, founded nine years ago. In this interview, he talks about the idea behind the Association and its main aims:
Why was the Association named after Chico Xavier?

We wanted to recognise the crucial role the late Brazilian medium, Chico Xavier (Francisco Cândido Xavier), played in the dissemination of Spiritism. He was a great Spiritist communicator and that is one of the main reasons a group of Spiritists from the city of Bauru decided to pay homage to him when it founded an organisation aimed at the dissemination of the Teachings codified by Allan Kardec.

When was the Association founded? What was its main goal?

It was founded on June 8^th 2005 as Associação Chico Xavier para Divulgação Espírita (Chico Xavier Association for the Dissemination of Spiritism). It was aimed at using the media (radio, television and Internet) to spread out the core principles of Spiritism and other moral values. That is part of an effort to contribute to the ethical, cultural and religious development of society. Now that we have gone over this initial phase of setting up the Association from a legal point of view and establishing its infrastructure, we are focusing on producing programmes for television and the Internet.

You have also set up a partnership with the Cairbar Schutel Institute. How did that come about?

The Chico Xavier Association and the Cairbar Schutel Institute have signed a partnership to edit, a part of a join project, the Tribuna do Espiritismo newspaper. We have the same aims and thought the partnership would strengthen both organisations.

What has been the impact of that partnership?

We are very happy to join our efforts in the dissemination of Spiritism. We have been getting positive feedback about the publication of the Tribuna do Espiritismo newspaer and I am sure our joint efforts will bear many more fruits in the future.

What is the Chico Stand?

It is a stand that sells Spiritist books at the Bauru street market. It sells about 80 books every Sunday to a non-Spiritist public. It is a very successful enterprise in the dissemination of Spiritism amongst the wider public. 

Does the Association have its own offices? 

Yes, but we are still doing work to finish off our premises. We are building an extra area where we will be able to record Spiritist programmes. 

What has been the main lesson learned along all these years at the Association? 

We have gone through several phases in the past nine years and we have noticed big changes in the media. I could say we are going through a true media revolution. The Internet has forced us to review many concepts and possibilities in the dissemination of Spiritism. We have learned from our experiences, our errors and successes and have decided to set up a hub to produce Spiritist programmes in several cities. People from other Brazilian cities are being encouraged to join us in this effort, to share experiences and help us develop, together, new projects for TV, Internet and print media. 

A final question: what are the Association’s main priorities at this stage and how can people help contribute to your efforts? 

We have the following projects underway: we are building the studio (for the production of programmes), we have the Chico Stand (second-hand Spiritist books), the Online Spiritism Course (to be launched shortly), the “And Life Goes On” project (All Saints Day at the cemetery), the Spiritist Book Fair and the Tribuna do Espiritismo newspaper. What we need? Donations to buy more books, to produce printed messages and textbooks for our courses and to produce and record programmes. We would also gladly accept donations of filming and studio equipment. 

Can you give us the details for those who wish to make a donation?

Yes. The Association has its own bank account. Bank: 104 – Caixa Econômica Federal. Branch: 4210. Bank account: 003359-7. For those who wish to make contact and need extra information, our phone number is + 55 14 32411857. Our email is: contato@associacaochicoxavier.com.br.