Saint Sebastian Parish is a division of the Catholic Church based in the Brazilian city of Coronel Fabriciano, in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais.

[1] Its emancipation process began at the request of Dom Helvécio Gomes de Oliveira, archbishop of Mariana, in 1942, being created on August 15, 1948.

As vicar of Jaguaraçu, he visited the villages of Calado (now downtown Coronel Fabriciano) and Santo Antônio de Piracicaba (now Melo Viana neighborhood) monthly from 1923.

[2] The construction of the church in the village, which developed around the Calado Station complex, consolidated the celebrations and first Catholic religious manifestations of the local community, dedicated to Saint Sebastian in honor of the residents' devotion.

At the time, the merchant Rotildino Avelino ordered an image of the martyr from Rio de Janeiro, which was later enthroned on the main altar, giving rise to the first celebrations in honor of the patron saint.

[5] The population and structural impulse of the current downtown Fabriciano area (Centro neighborhood) was due in principle to the installation of the Belgo-Mineira industrial complex in 1936 and Acesita in 1944.

[2] At the same time, the regular practice of Ash Wednesday mass (1939), Coronation of Mary (1939), Holy Week celebrations (1946),[7] and processions and assembly of Corpus Christi carpets (1946) began.

[9][2] On August 15, 1948, after the arrival of the Redemptorist Missionaries, Saint Sebastian Parish was created, marking the establishment of the first religious institution based in the current Vale do Aço Metropolitan Region.

On the cold and sunny morning of that August 15, a Sunday, Dom Helvécio celebrated a mass in the courtyard of the current Parish Church of Saint Sebastian, which was still under construction, attended by local political and religious authorities.

This was followed by a luncheon for the religious and guests at the Casa de Campo (English: Country House) and, at the end of the day, a procession in honor of Our Lady.

[17] The Saint Anthony Parish, dismembered on January 20, 1963,[18] became the district of Senador Melo Viana and the municipal rural area.

In the following decades he worked in several community fronts in Coronel Fabriciano, as the director of Educadora radio, Scout Group, and social projects.

Among them are the Feast of Saint Sebastian, patron saint of the city, together with the city's anniversary in January;[32] Holy Week, when processions and staging are organized, keeping rituals, garments and costumes from the 1940s;[5] Corpus Christi, with colored sawdust carpets made on the streets of the neighborhoods Santa Helena and Professores, whose origins also date back to the 1940s;[33] and the celebrations of the parish anniversary together with Family Week in August, with special masses and cultural presentations.

The project was designed by Wilmar Krantz, from Timóteo, and the works were managed by the merchant João Sotero Bragança under the supervision of the parish priest at the time, Joaquim Silveira.

It is worth mentioning that most of the religious buildings in the communities,[9] such as the Cathedral and the Parish Hall, were funded by donations from the faithful themselves and by holding auctions, raffles, musical shows, and trading in stalls.