Dom Peruzzo: days of ‘radicalization and injustice’

Protesters interrupted a Mass at the Church of the Rosary (Igreja do Rosário), in Largo da Ordem, in Curitiba. It was this past Saturday (the 5th), at about 5 p.m. The information comes from the Archdiocese. The protest was motivated by the murders of Congolese kiosk attendant Moïse Kabagambe and supermarket stocker Durval Teófilo Filho. Two Black men cruelly killed in the state of Rio de Janeiro — the first beaten with clubs and the second shot.

The occasion at the church was recorded on video and became a topic among the lowest clergy of the city’s Municipal Council. Council member Eder Borges (PSD) edited a statement of his own that precedes the protest images. He speaks about his colleague Renato Freitas (PT):

—A band of criminals, led by a PT councilman of Curitiba, invaded today the Mass at the Order church. (…) I will file a complaint with the ethics council against this brat, because mocking the faith I will not accept (SIC, the “invasion” was at the Church of the Rosary and not the Order). (Our translation.)

In an interview with Lab Journalism 2030, Curitiba’s metropolitan archbishop, Dom José Antônio Peruzzo, answered that a “celebration of reparation” is planned.

—Many times the Church of the Rosary was sought out by Afro-descendants, Catholic or not. There are the stories of many slaves, many of them buried there. They were always welcomed and respectful. In the current situation, I do not believe the group went to the church for religious reasons, but took the religious and racial argument to politicize the place, the history and the event. (Our translation.)

Also for Dom Peruzzo, we live in days of “radicalization and injustice. The deaths of Moïse and Durval have base, stupid reasons. Every murder is always a mistake. At the same time, to assault and profane a church has something senseless and malevolent.” (Our translation.)