This story was updated at 18:30 p.m.
Wearing the colors green and yellow – which became the official uniform of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, candidate for re-election by the PL – supporters of the president harassed journalists and employees of TV Aparecida, the official communication vehicle of the Sanctuary located in the interior of São Paulo.
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The network of TV CNN Brazil caught the moment when a small group of upset people shouted and gestured against journalistic teams, including the TV responsible for covering the festivities at the Basilica of Aparecida. The images also show Sanctuary security guards trying to protect the press from the most heated. The images are already circulating on Twitter:
Later, UOL reported that a TV team from Vanguarda, a Globo affiliate in the interior of São Paulo, was harassed. In an interview, cameraman Tales de Andrade said that he was pushed. “At the time, I was scared. I didn’t think they were going to hit me, but I was cornered by a bunch of people screaming.”
Bolsonaro accompanies mass amid applause and boos
Even after the letter from the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) condemning the instrumentalization of faith, President Jair Bolsonaro decided to travel to Aparecida in the middle of the election campaign. With him, a group of supporters ended up turning the solemn moment of the Catholic Church into a political act of support for the candidate.
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When the president's name was called by Father Eduardo Ribeiro, the applause was more noticeable. The celebration coordinator he even asked for silence three times in an attempt to overwhelm those present who called Bolsonaro of “myth”.
“Silence in the Basilica, we came here to pray”, he said.
One of the priests present opened his cassock and showed that he was wearing a Brazil t-shirt underneath.
At one of the entrances to the Sanctuary, hundreds of people awaited Bolsonaro's arrival. At the door there were flags and distribution of stickers with the ballot box number of the president and the candidate for the government of São Paulo Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans).
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Before arriving at the Basilica, Bolsonaro was booed and cursed by some, while others applauded:
The president arrived accompanied by federal deputy Bia Kicis (PL), former minister João Roma (PL), Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL), elected senator Marcos Pontes and Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans ). Bolsonaro remained silent most of the time and did not go to the altar.
“We love the virgin Aparecida because she is black, the color of our people. The second reading is a stimulus to overcome the dragons of sadness, hatred, resentment, dragons that keep us away from the Gospel”, said Father Eduardo Catalfo in his homily at the mass.
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QuestionWhen asked about the possible electoral use of the celebrations of Our Lady of Aparecida by the president, Dom Orlando asked that the faithful have a “religious identity”. “Either we are evangelicals, or we are Catholics. But whatever the intention, (Bolsonaro) will be well received because he is our president,” he told reporters earlier.
The president has a strong connection with evangelical religions. Earlier, he was in Belo Horizonte, where he inaugurated a headquarters for the World Church of the Power of God.
At the end of the mass, Bolsonaro left the Basilica, which caused an uproar among the faithful. A large group ran to a square located close to the Old Basilica, where the Dom Bosco Group organized a Rosary prayer and announced that the president would be present.
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