Brazil opened churches at the worst time of the pan …

The opening of churches and temples on Easter Sunday, authorized by a Supreme Court judge, has become the topic of discussion in Brazil at a time when the country is going through the worst phase of the pandemic and already exceeds 330,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Worship and Masses were celebrated this Sunday after the approval of Cassio Nunes Brands, one of the eleven magistrates of the highest court in the country, and who considered that the ban infringes the right to religious freedom. Celebrations of this type had been suspended by some of the governors and mayors of Brazil, as part of a series of mobility restrictions imposed to contain a pandemic that remains uncontrollable.

The measure of Nunes Marques, which prohibits states and municipalities from completely suspending celebrations, contradicts other Supreme Court decisions, such as the one that gave governors and mayors the autonomy to enact isolation actions. The measure says churches must operate up to 25 percent of their capacity, comply with social distancing rules and keep the space ventilated with windows and doors open whenever possible. The use of masks, the provision of alcoholic gel, and temperature control of worshipers upon entry are also mandatory.

Nunes Marques, who was appointed to the court by President Jair Bolsonaro, said “religious activity” is an “essential service” in “such difficult times” as the one in Brazil. He also stressed that Holy Week “represents a moment of singular importance for the celebration of their beliefs” in a country where 80% of the population is Christian, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

The decision was officially released on Saturday after Anajure (National Association of Evangelical Jurists) filed a disagreement with the Supreme Court, alleging that the suspension of religious services and masses violates a fundamental right to religious freedom and the secular principle of the condition.

Nunes Marques’ decision, however, was publicly rejected by the mayor of Belo Horizonte, Alexandre kalil, who warned that the state capital of Minas Gerais maintain the ban on services and face-to-face meetings. “In Belo Horizonte, we accompanied the plenary session of the Supreme Court. What is valid is the mayor’s decree. Face-to-face services and masses are prohibited“Kalil said on his Twitter account on Saturday evening, in anticipation of the festive day.

This Sunday, Nunes reinforced his position and notified the mayor of Belo Horizonte to “urgently” comply with the court ruling. The judge’s decision, which must be analyzed in the plenary session of the Supreme, Goes against the decision adopted by the highest court in the country, which ratified the autonomy of governors and mayors in adopting measures to stop the new virus.

In this context, the National Front of Mayors He urged the president of the country’s highest court, Luiz Fux, to speak out on the decision made by Nunes Marques and guide mayors on the rule to follow. “(Are we following) the decision of the plenary session of the Supreme Court, which determined that municipalities have the prerogative to establish the opening or closing of activities on their territory, or is it precautionary?, asked the president of the Front, Jonas Donizette. “This blatant contradiction makes the fight against the pandemic difficult in a federal country with continental dimensions like ours, ”he added.

Even another judge of the court, Marco Aurélio Mello, severely criticized the decision of his partner Nunes Marques. “The rookie, it seems, has expertise on the subject. Poor supreme and mediocre judicial power. And he helped the association of evangelical jurists in their constitutional claim. Where are we going to stop? Strange times!“, declared the magistrate to the newspaper Estadão. Mello is expected to retire in July, opening a second vacant post pending a nomination to Bolsonaro.

Most states and municipalities in Brazil have imposed measures to contain the coronavirus, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The two states have decided to shut down all non-essential services and have brought forward a series of public holidays to restrict the movement of people.

These measures were harshly criticized by President Bolsonaro, who urged the population to return to normal keep the country’s struggling economy afloat, despite the dire pandemic situation. The leader of the Brazilian far right, who is under pressure for his erratic handling of the pandemic, He said on Saturday that the “war” waged against governors and mayors “is not political” but for “the future of the nation”.

This Sunday, we learned that Brazilian citizens desperate for the advance of the covid-19 pandemic in the country They crossed the border with Bolivia to try to get vaccinated before the border closure which began last Friday.. This was announced by the head of the health network of the Bolivian province of Angel Sandoval, Javier Rivas Dalence, who said that Brazilians from the city of Cáceres, with relatives in the city of San Matías, had come to the country to be vaccinated. Border controls have been increased due to the advance of the P1 variant of the coronavirus.