The bishop of Piracicaba (São Paulo state), Brazil, Devair Araújo da Fonseca, criticized President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva following his remarks implying the Church needs to end celibacy and ordain women if it wants to grow. Da Silva is running for reelection as the Workers’ Party candidate.
During a Sept. 16 meeting at the Planalto Palace (president’s office) in the capital, Brasília, with Americans and Brazilians from the Evangelical Front for the Rule of Law, Da Silva said he had “the opportunity to speak to Pope Francis” about these topics.
“As long as the Catholic Church doesn’t end celibacy and allow women to be priests, to be bishops — allow women to speak, you know? — we’re going to see the Catholic Church face difficulties,” he said. In Da Silva’s view, the fact that a woman can “be whatever she wants” is what “has caused the evangelical church to grow so much in Brazil.”
Catholics currently make up about 57% of the population, down from about 90% in 1970.
On Sept. 19, Araújo da Fonseca posted a video on his social media channels featuring a homily he had delivered the previous night in Santa Bárbara dʼOeste (São Paulo state), in which he responded to the president.
“We are seeing politicians trying to tell the Church what it should do. They even try to speak about priestly celibacy, when they ought to be looking after the country. And they are doing a very poor job of it,” he said.
The bishop of Piracicaba emphasized the need to “be attentive” at the time of the election, the first round of which will take place on Oct. 4, with a runoff, if necessary, scheduled for Oct. 25.
“Let us not have a short memory, for the future depends on the choices we make in the present. And if we, as Christians, turn a blind eye to this, we will pay the price,” he said.
Araújo da Fonseca addressed those who “were thinking of staying home on Election Day and not voting because it isn’t worth it.” He urged them to vote as “an act of sacrifice and penance.”
“But make your choice. Remember that we all bear the consequences. Do not choose those who wish to destroy our freedom. Do not make choices for which we will later have to pay the price,” he added.
The bishop of Formosa (Goiás state), Adair José Guimarães, also commented on Da Silva’s statements. He said he was not surprised by them, “because usually leaders, when they are ignorant, want to meddle in everything. They think they have a monopoly on the truth about everything.”
Guimarães stated that “the Catholic Church is not something just anyone can understand,” as “it is an institution of divine right, over 2,000 years old, with its incredibly rich tradition, its magisterium, and sacred Scripture.”
In the view of the bishop of Formosa, “the nation’s leader needs to take good care of the nation” rather than “meddle in Church affairs.”
He recalled an incident in 2005 when Lula, “in his first term,” said: “I am a Catholic, Apostolic and Roman.” At the time, the then-archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Eusébio Oscar Scheid, was asked about the Workers’ Party leaderʼs statement and remarked: “Look, he says he is a Roman Apostolic Catholic, but my take is this: He is chaotic, apostate, and romantic.”
“So, I share that same view held by our late cardinal regarding the matter. I need say no more than that,” Guimarães said.
This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.