When the coronavirus was first reported in Brazil, Catholic bishops hesitated to suspend public Masses, but as the situation grew worse, most agreed to close down churches until conditions improve, and they have stuck by that decision. Brazil is now a COVID-19 epicenter. The president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, Archbishop Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, has spoken out against disunity and authorities who “trivialize” the effects of the pandemic. There is, he claimed, “a mismatch between the guidelines that come from health authorities, based on science, and the behavior of those who have the greatest responsibility to lead the country.” The wide disparities in wealth and access to quality health care mean that it is poor people who suffer most. The archbishop expressed concern about the attitude of citizens who fail to recognize the severity of the disease. In isolated communities in the Amazonian region corpses are piling up, and thousands of new graves have had to be dug.

Tensions focus especially on Brazil’s President Bolsonaro, who is determined to keep the country’s economy running. Health ministers have been removed during the pandemic. On May 11 the president issued an executive order allowing gyms and hairdressers to open as “essential services.” When the country’s death toll passed 10,000, President Bolsonaro said that he was planning a barbecue for 30 people at the presidential palace, but when a social media storm erupted, he stepped back from those plans, saying that he had joked about a “fake barbecue” and accused the press of distorting his comments.

The Catholic Church is urging commitment to solidarity and special attention to the poor, the homeless, and the groups most vulnerable to the virus, like the elderly. “This often requires us to be more demanding in appeals to those who define and decide public policies, so that their attitudes are marked by deep social sensitivity,” the archbishop said. “The church does not encourage clashes but harmony, based on a principle that must guide the world going forward, as there is no other possible way. This principle is that of solidarity.” He sees social isolation during this emergency as a gesture of charity, aiming to protect society’s weaker members. “We cannot simply say that these tragedies are the work of chance or a punishment from God—which would be an even greater mistake. It is the human being, in his freedom, who follows crooked directions and unleashes these tragedies.”

(Based on: April 6, 2020, Christianity Today article and May 18, 2020, America article)