Vatican News runs and retracts false information about Papal Assessor’s visit to Lula. After widely publicizing the former, Brazil’s biggest news companies ignore the retraction.
The Vatican is no stranger to intrigue and infighting. A recent scandal involving a Papal Assessor being barred by a Curitiba Judge from delivering a message and Blessed Rosary to ex-President Lula may not compare with Felix V’s election as Antipope by the Council of Basel, but it does illustrate the ongoing dispute between progressive and conservative factions within the Vatican. It also illustrates the relationship between progressive and conservative factions of Brazilian Catholics with Rome, as most of the social movements fighting on the streets to defend freedom for Lula were founded with support from the Catholic Pastorals and liberation theology priests and nuns, whereas conservative Catholics have historically supported the PSDB party, with reputed ties between some of its leaders and Opus Dei.
On Monday, June 11, Papal Assessor Juan Grabois attempted to visit ex-President Lula in the Federal Police headquarters building in Curitiba, where he is being held in solitary confinement after being condemned for undetermined acts with no material evidence. According to Grabois, the purpose of the visit was to pass a message from Pope Francis along with a Blessed Rosary and discuss spiritual matters. Although Monday’s are set aside for Lula to receive visits from religious leaders and clergy the police barred Grabois from entering. The official excuse was that he couldn’t visit because he is not a priest, but Leonardo Boff, who renounced the priesthood after being censured by Joseph Ratzinger during the 1990s, visited Lula last month. Afterwords, Grabois, an Argentinian lawyer who intermediates between the Pope and poor people’s social movements, told the press that his arbitrary denial of visitation rights demonstrates Brazil’s “enormous institutional, social and political deterioration” (more...)
Poland was freed from the Communists. Can Brazil be freed from the Fascists?
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