Brazil’s biggest Catholic festival narrowly escapes the election fray

The festival of Círio de Nazaré, celebrated these days in the northern Brazilian city of Belém do Pará, is one of the largest Catholic festivals in the world and this year narrowly avoided politicization amid an election campaign.

More than 2.5 million people filled the streets of Belém to participate in various processions and events honoring the Virgin of Nazaré, the city’s patron saint.

One of these processions is a river march that runs along the Bay of Guajará, which washes around the city. On one of the boats was President Jair Bolsonaro.

It was not just any boat but the Navy ship that transports the pilgrim image of the Virgin Mary every year.

Bolsonaro did not make any speeches but posted pictures on his social networks. That was enough to draw criticism for politicizing a religious act.

The Archdiocese of Belém, responsible for all celebrations, distanced itself from the event in a statement, saying that while any citizen could attend, Bolsonaro had not been invited.

It also criticized “any political or partisan use” of the activities.

The mayor of Belém, Edmilson Rodrigues of the leftist Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), said that the trust of all Paraenses should not be “hijacked by a presidential candidacy,” and the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, stressed that no politician had the right to “appropriate the Círio.”

POLITICAL MARKETING

Barbalho, an ally of leftist candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, invited the former president (2003-2011) to the religious festival. Still, the latter declined the offer to avoid being accused of “political marketing,” according to local press reports.

His wife, Rosangela da Silva, Janja, was present and said she was in town to “make good on a promise” and give thanks that there were no surprises in the first round of voting.

The attempts to politicize the most important religious festival in northern Brazil come against the backdrop of a neck-and-neck race between da Silva and Bolsonaro for the religious vote.

Although evangelicals (about 30% of the electorate and mostly Bolsonaristas) grab most of the headlines, most Brazilians are Catholics, and Lula has some edge among that group.

For Bolsonaro, the Círio de Nazaré visit was meant to strengthen ties with these voters, but apparently, it backfired.

In one of his posts on social media, he thanked them for being at the “Sírio de Nazaré” – a spelling error that he quickly corrected but for which the Internet did not forgive him.

With information from Sputnik

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