MPF evaluates allegations of “abuse of religious power” in the election for guardianship councils

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) is evaluating complaints regarding “abuse of religious power” in the election for guardianship councils held last Sunday (1). The election took place in more than 5 thousand cities in the country, but the situations sent to the MPF would have been registered in Rio de Janeiro during the campaign to elect conservative candidates.

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In a note sent to Gazeta do Povo, the entity explains that it received a “set of news” that deal with the case and that it is analyzing these reports. Furthermore, he says that he has already requested information from the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Conanda). “Potential developments will be informed later”, explains the note.

According to Agência Brasil, large religious entities in Rio de Janeiro had influenced followers to participate in the elections for guardianship councilors and vote for certain candidates. The complaints were published by the Rio press and sent to the Regional Attorney’s Office for Citizens’ Rights in Rio de Janeiro by an association of former Childhood Counselors, who warned of the risk of interference in the election by abuse of religious power.

According to the MPF, the representation received by the entity states that the churches’ action would aim to “exercise influence over the faithful to elect religious candidates, in order to direct institutional spheres of the State itself to adopt a traditional and exclusionary concept of family”, the Public Ministry told Agência Brasil, also highlighting that guardianship counselors must act to protect children and adolescents, regardless of personal and religious beliefs.

Conservative mobilization in the 2023 elections

An unprecedented fact noticed in this year’s elections was the mobilization of conservatives concerned about the imposition of permissive agendas by left-wing activists in guardianship councils. Therefore, volunteers from all over Brazil encouraged thousands of people to vote, for the first time, in the elections for the guardianship council. The action was successful, and they achieved a significant increase in population participation.
According to data from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC) released this Tuesday (3), the election registered an increase of 25.8% in the number of voters, with capitals such as Salvador (BA) and Florianópolis (SC) reaching 100% growth.

Of the 22 capitals with results already announced, 21 had greater participation this year compared to the 2019 elections, totaling 1 million and 600 thousand voters who voluntarily left home to choose their candidates. In several cities, such as Curitiba (PR), Balneário Camboriú (SC), Recife (PE) and São Paulo (SP), many councilors supported by the conservative wing were elected.

“Here in Curitiba, for example, we have representatives in all regional offices and we are going to demand from our counselors what they do with our children and teenagers”, stated the retired soldier, Captain Marques, who used his social networks to encourage popular support to the election and achieved results in different states across the country. “The movement grew organically, without any party or politician, and the result was worth it!”, he concludes.