Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1950. Made his postulancy (1968) and novitiate (1969) at Avellanes, Spain, where he learned Spanish. Finished his studies at the scholasticate in Maynooth, Ireland (1970). Took his final vows in the Institute in 1978. Has followed study courses Barcelona (1973), in Glasgow H. K. (1976) and in Chicago, at Loyola University (1993). He has spent his apostolic life mainly in Africa: Nigeria, Cameroon, and Nairobi.

He taught in Bamenda, Cameroon, from 1979 to 1987. He was District Econome in Mankon (1997), then Rector of MIC in Nairobi from 1999 to 2005. MIC had some 70 young Brothers of Africa who were doing university studies. Members of other religious congregations of men and women also studied at the centre. At the same time as being Rector of the Marist International Center, he was co-ordinating the little Marist communities into which this Marist university centre was organized.

Brother Joseph is attending this Chapter as Provincial of West Central Europe, which has its provincial house in Nijmegen, Holland. The capitulants have shown their confidence in him by choosing him as Vicar General. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Portugese, and French. He is a man of communion, calm, accepting, steady, and of strong Marist convictions.

I was born on the 9th June 1946 at Carção-Vimioso, in the district of Bragança, province of Trás-os-Montes, in the north of Portugal. I did my secondary studies in the former juniorate of the Province of Portugal, at Leiria, twenty kilometres from Fatima. Then I made the novitiate at Bairo in 1966, with Brother Alexandro Balko as master of novices.
After the novitiate, I finished my secondary studies and had my first missionary experience in Angola in 1969/70.

Having returned to Europe, I taught in our boarding school at Carcavelos. I did my university studies at Lisbon in mathematics and at Fribourg (Switzerland) in theology. I then returned to Africa, this time to stay for more time: ten years from 1986 to 1996 at the Marist International Centre in Nairobi. I was more directly responsible for the teaching of dogmatic theology, the Old Testament and the comparative study of religions. On my return to Europe, I had only one year in my former school of Carcavelos before going to Ermesinde, where I was responsible for the older juniors and the scholastic brothers whom we had then.

In 2001, I followed the programme at the Spirituality Centre of San Lorenzo d'El Escorial, then I stayed there as member of the accompanying team from 2002 until the present time. I have worked there with two directors of the Centre: Brothers Santiago Cisneros and Javier Espinosa.

In this calm place of Escorial, as well as accomplishing the work demanded, I have taken advantage of the serenity of the place to finish my writings that I had already started. I have always loved writing and I have just finished a collection of seventy-five biblical meditations, of which forty-three have been published. I have also written some books of poetry. My interest in ecumenism, which has inspired my studies, is also reflected in some of my writings and in some of my pastoral activities.