Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Freedom of belief and worship is guaranteed by the current Brazilian Constitution, promulgated in 1988 (revised in 2017), in Articles 5 and 19.
Article 5 states: “freedom of conscience and belief is inviolable, assuring free exercise of religious beliefs and guaranteeing, as set forth in law, protection of places of worship and their rites; providing religious assistance at civilian and military establishments for collective confinement is assured, as provided by law”, and; “no one shall be deprived of any rights because of religious beliefs or philosophical or political convictions, unless invoked in order to be exempted from a legal obligation imposed upon all by one refusing to perform an alternative service established by law”.
Article 19 states: “The Union, States, Federal District and Counties are forbidden to: establish religions or churches, subsidize them, hinder their functioning, or maintain dependent relations or alliances with them or their representatives, with the exception of collaboration in the public interest, as provided by law”.
Law No. 7716 of 1989 establishes as a crime discrimination based on race, colour, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. Public policies aimed at combating discrimination began with racial issues, followed by gender and, more recently, religious concerns.
In 1989, a federal agency, the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, was created to implement public policies against all types of discrimination. In 2015, a new branch of this Ministry was created, specifically dedicated to religious discrimination - the Religious Diversity and Human Rights Advisory - indicating the growing attention on this issue. In 2020, criticism was directed against the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, which failed to report any responses to the complaints of human rights violations they received.
Under President Jair Bolsonaro, religious discrimination decreased in importance. The Religious Diversity and Human Rights Advisory agency was replaced by an agency with a more general focus, the Coordination of Freedom of Religion or Belief, Conscience, Expression and Academics.
Incidents and developments
In a large country that has challenges with impunity it is difficult to carry out a definitive assessment of the number of cases of intolerance and attacks against any human right, let alone religious freedom as defined in Article 18.
A comparative analysis of events denouncing human rights violations in Brazil (Dial 100 and similar) indicates that incidents with a religious motivation were relatively rare. In 2021, for example, 583 attacks on religious freedom were reported, versus 14,000 cases of false imprisonment, infringement of freedom of movement, and slave labour. In the same year, around 1000 complaints were received relating to attacks with a religious motivation, versus 43,600 complaints motivated by a “conflict of ideas”. Of all religious groups, Afro-Brazilian religions suffered the most violations of religious freedom in Brazil. Here religious motivation is more common than ethnic motivation, of which only 300 violations were reported in 2021.
The period under review indicated a relatively steady reporting of complaints against religious intolerance in Brazil. In the first half of 2022, 384 complaints of intolerance were presented to the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, while in the first half of 2021, 263 complaints were lodged (an increase of 45.6%). In comparison, Safernet Brasil, a civil association focused on the promotion and defence of Human Rights on the internet, recorded a 654.1% increase in the number of complaints filed from one semester to the next (first semester of 2021 with 614 complaints, first semester 2022 with 3818 complaints). The analysis conducted by Safernet also showed that the number of human rights violations increased in election years (2018, 2022, 2022) compared to non-election years (2017, 2019, 2021).
The understanding of a secular state and the autonomy of politics in relation to religion was challenged during the reporting period. President Jair Bolsonaro's electoral campaign infused religion into politics, presenting himself as a defender of evangelical values, in particular those of neo-Pentecostals, in opposition to political groups considered left-wing progressives. This use of religion for political gain appears to evoke a concept of millenarianism and “messianism”, a traditional Ibero-American belief proclaiming that something or someone will come and transform things for the better.
During the Brazilian re-democratisation after the military dictatorship (1964–1984), there has been an increasing awareness that the population has become more conscious of their rights, demand more from the state, and condemn corruption and cronyism. The political class, not responding to the increased expectations, led to a rupture in the social pact and a susceptibility to the mobilisation of religion as an ideological force with the corresponding growth of religious discourse in the political sphere. In this context, political incidents, usually derived from extremist actions from either the left or the right, are interpreted through religious categories, threatening inter-religious dialogue and the right to freely exercise independent religious faith.
Jair Bolsonaro, throughout his presidential campaign, built his political base from among “conservative” Christians, mainly neo-Pentecostal evangelicals, but also Catholics. Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva found greater support among so-called “progressive” Catholics, agnostics, atheists, and followers of other religions. In the last months leading up to the election campaign, the use of religious arguments intensified, with both candidates being accused of instrumentalising religion and even having pacts with the devil and free masonry.,
Partisan disagreements provoked divisions, and vehement invective directed at, but also from within, particularly the Catholic Church which is more politically heterogeneous than the Evangelical churches. Masses and homilies were interrupted, priests were insulted, and on at least two occasions bishops were threatened with physical harm.,
In a 2021 homily, the Archbishop of the National Sanctuary of Aparecida, said that “a beloved homeland does not need to be an armed homeland”, in a pun between loved (amada) and armed (armada), opposing the Bolsonaro government’s gun policy. A state representative from São Paulo, in an official session of the Legislative Assembly, in retaliation to this assertion by the prelate, said that clerics are “dirty paedophiles” and Pope Francis is a bum. He later recanted. He was not sanctioned but he was not re-elected.
Followers of Afro-Brazilian religions are still identified as the group experiencing the greatest levels of intolerance and discrimination in Brazil. The most common incidents were attacks on places of worship and physical or verbal attacks, which were generally conducted by neighbours. Discrimination in search for employment and intolerance in workplaces were also common.
In a survey by the National Network of Afro-Brazilian Religions and Health (Renafro) and the entity Ilê Omolu Oxum, among “pais de santo” and “mães de santo” (priests and priestesses of Afro-Brazilian religions), it was shown that 91.7 percent had already experienced some kind of prejudice due to their religion, with 78.4 percent a target of violence and 68.6 percent indicating that there were no police stations prepared to receive their complaints.
Abuses against Afro-Brazilian religions by pastors and neo-Pentecostal groups were increasingly common; insults occurred not only during Church services, but also on the internet and even at government events. On one occasion, a neo-Pentecostal pastor filmed himself destroying the offerings deposited after an Afro-Brazilian ceremonial. Conflicts occurred when neo-Pentecostal groups performed religious acts in front of Afro-Brazilian temples with provocative intent.,
Children and young people have also been victims of religious intolerance. In Santa Catarina, a 16-year-old girl was attacked for following an Afro-Brazilian religion. Schoolmates claimed that her religion was “of the devil”. During the period analysed, on at least two occasions, public agencies separated children from their mothers, claiming that they disrespected the children’s rights by taking them to Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies.,
In March 2022, at the UN, a representative of the Guarani Kaiowá indigenous people accused “religious fundamentalists” of violent practices and the burning of their “houses of prayer” and accused the Brazilian government of providing insufficient protection against the threat. According to the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), linked to the Catholic Episcopal Conference in Brazil, attacks against indigenous spirituality have intensified in recent years and at least seven houses of prayer were criminally set on fire in 2021 in the Mato Grosso do Sul State.
Cases of religious intolerance against other faith groups are rarer and tend to receive greater attention and more immediate action from the Brazilian authorities. Religious intolerance against Jews is uncommon in Brazil and is usually considered to be racism against an ethnic group. In early 2022, in a rare case in which the religious issue was associated with anti-Zionism, a neo-Pentecostal pastor from Rio de Janeiro posted offensive videos and hate speeches against the Jewish people; he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Brazilian court.
Despite the difficulties faced during the reporting period, initiatives have also been carried out to eradicate religious intolerance in the country. Since 2007, Brazil celebrates, on the 21st of each January, the National Day to Combat Religious Intolerance with events throughout the national territory. Other events with the same objective are held at other times of the year, such as the Walk in Defence of Religious Freedom, held annually in Rio de Janeiro in September. As religious intolerance is mainly directed against Afro-Brazilian religions, these manifestations are often also associated with gestures against racism.
In a period characterised by the politicisation of religion, there were several interventions calling for respect for religious freedom and differences of opinion from both elected politicians and interreligious groups. The courts have also recognised several cases of religious intolerance, and state and local governments have developed programs to improve the care for victims of religious intolerance., In addition, an agreement was reached between the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court and representatives of several religious congregations, with the aim of excluding messages of violence and aggression from the religious context.
Edir Macedo, a well-known neo-Pentecostal leader, asked president-elect Lula to pardon him for having publicly supported his opponent, Jair Bolsonaro. He said that the faithful of his Church should not suffer for his actions.
Prospects for freedom of religion
In the period under review, a similar pattern revealed itself as in previous years: in cases of intolerance and religious discrimination, the victims tended to be followers of Afro-Brazilian religions and the aggressors, in many cases, adherents of neo-Pentecostal evangelical groups. Clearly, however, intolerance and discrimination towards Afro-Brazilian religions are neither universal of nor limited to neo-Pentecostal confessions. They happen in groups of people with peculiar temperaments and tend to be associated with broader social phenomena, such as political polarisation and social resentment.
The growth of politicisation and aggressiveness in interreligious relations in Brazil is similar to those found between North American Pentecostalism and other Christian ideological representations, seeking an Old Testament reference to a powerful “God of armies”, who crushes his enemies. In the ideological and partisan field, atheistic communism and ideologies that question sexual differentiation and family are set to confront religious Brazilians, who make up 90 percent of the population. In the specifically religious field, neo-Pentecostals are likely to continue seeing Afro-Brazilian religions and animist practitioners as devil worshippers. This animosity towards Afro-Brazilian religions is the result of an historical intolerance of these religions due to their origins in black slave populations.
This situation cannot be disassociated from the resentment that has been repressed in a large part of the Brazilian population over the last twenty years. Merely condemning the religious intolerance of a social group will not overcome the problem. Present aggressors are those who felt attacked in some way in the past. Only an empathetic effort to recognise the frustrations of other groups and the dignity of other humans can prevent an aggravation of these social tensions and their expression in the religious field."
The prospects for the next two years, once the presidential electoral process has ended, shows a rather positive trend with less episodes of conflict, but more frequent occurrences of religion being used as a tool for political gain.
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