A row of Biblical proportions has erupted in the run-up to Brazil’s presidential election, with the country’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, emerging as an unlikely kingmaker in the deadlocked race. Ahead of Sunday’s vote, the two frontrunners – the leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his far-right challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro – are level in the polls. But in recent days, speculation that Bolsonaro – son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro – might strip the widely cherished patroness of her position have caused a nationwide outcry, leaving some to question if it could tip the knife-edge election in favour of Lula, who is Catholic.
It remains unclear precisely how the commotion began, but debate over the issue exploded last week when a remark by Bolsonaro, whose movement includes many evangelical Christians, went viral online. In a recent broadcast, the former senator said one of his first acts as president would be to “decree that Brazil belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ”. Some Catholics took that as a sign that the Protestant politician planned to unseat Our Lady of Aparecida, although only the Vatican – which declared her Brazil’s patroness in 1930 – has the authority to do so.
Those suspicions were reinforced by Bolsonaro’s reported links to JB Carvalho, an evangelical leader who has previously called for the patroness’s removal. In 2007, another Bolsonaro ally tried to introduce legislation to the same effect, although the bill was dropped. Bolsonaro has called claims he plans to unseat Our Lady of Aparecida “fake news”.
He alleged the rumours were being spread by Lula supporters, as well as members of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil, a Catholic bishops’ organisation. The conference rejected the charge. Lula’s leftwing movement has taken advantage of the furore, keenly aware it could hurt the far-right candidate’s chances in a country where nearly 57% of the population is Catholic.
With the result expected to be even tighter than the last one – when Lula beat Jair Bolsonaro by less than 2% – even a small number of votes could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Lula has appeared on the campaign trail holding statuettes of the Virgin Mary while his wife, Janja da Silva, has worn a pendant honouring Our Lady of Aparecida. People need to learn to respect all religions,” Lula told a rally in the Amazon.
Lula’s vice-president and running mate, a devout Catholic called Geraldo Alckmin, published a video describing how he had received messages from Catholics “worried about the direction of the country and the terrible news that has been circulating”. Alckmin assured voters he and Lula would preserve and protect “religious traditions, so sacred to Brazilian families”. The row speaks to the rivalry and tensions between Brazil’s once dominant Catholic church and the evangelical movement, which has grown rapidly since the 80s.
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