"Vote according to your conscience", bishops tell Brazilians

Catholic bishops in Brazil are calling on people to participate in the upcoming presidential elections and to vote freely according to their conscience.

"All Christians are called to worry about building a better world, through dialogue and the culture of encounter, in the struggle for justice and peace", the bishops said at the end of the general assembly of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB).

While acknowledging the polarized situation of the country as "very serious" and the need for "urgent changes", the Brazilian bishops invited people "to participate in the elections and to vote with conscience and responsibility", choosing candidates with projects committed to the integral defense of life, human and social rights and those that deal with the food of our “common home.”

The Catholic bishops' also called for a peaceful nature of the polls on October 2 that besides electing a president will also elect the vice president, the National Congress and 27 state governors.

In the of run up to the elections, the CNBB has begun meeting with electoral candidates following a "protocol" which, among its objectives emphasizes the environment, democracy, the fostering of education, social justice and eradicating of poverty. 

It also aims to guarantee the non-partisan position of the Church, treating men and women candidates equally, respecting the autonomy and outcome of the vote.

This is in contrast to the last presidential elections when the current President Jair Bolsonaro, a Catholic whose wife and son are both Baptists received the backing from many of Brazil's Evangelical Christians to win the elections.

This improved his political appeal among the nation's 11 million evangelicals, members of the fastest growing religious grouping in Brazil.

The value of "protocol" meetings

The first of the “protocol” or guideline meetings, was between CNBB president Archbishop Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo of Belo Horizonte and the vice-presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin, and took place at the Metropolitan Curia of Belo Horizonte on September 13, Fides reported.

The "protocol” was prepared by the CNBB with the support of political and communication consultants, after listening to regional proposals and analyzing them in the bishops conference’s Permanent Council. 

The country is presently polarized with Brazil looking forward to a dramatic presidential election with left-leaning former president from 2003 to 2010 and figurehead of the Workers' Party Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva being considered the favorite to defeat the incumbent far-right Bolsonaro.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as "Lula", was arrested in 2018, in the middle of the electoral campaign which led to Bolsonaro’s victory. However, the Brazilian Supreme Court in 2021 annulled charges against him. 

Bolsonaro's election four years ago has had a dramatic effect on Brazilian society with his catastrophic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic leaving more than half a million deaths.

He has supported deforestation and illegal mining in Indigenous territories and allied to the defenders of agri-business interests and evangelicals who see Amazonia as a resource to be exploited without obstacles and view the Catholic Church's defense of traditional Amazonian people as part of a left wing agenda.

According to the latest poll presented a few days ago by the Datafolhaex agency, Lula is expected to garner 45% of the votes, against 34% for Bolsonaro.

In another poll by Pollster IPEC released on Monday, Lula reached 47% of voters' support against 31% for Bolsonaro.