Flávio Bolsonaro’s Aparecida denial turns into an election misinformation fight

Flávio Bolsonaro’s Aparecida denial turns into an election misinformation fight
Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign has filed a criminal complaint with Brazil’s Electoral Prosecutor’s Office over social-media posts alleging that he would support removing Our Lady of Aparecida’s title as patron saint of Brazil if elected. The campaign says the allegation was false, politically damaging and spread at a decisive stage of the first-round race.

According to the complaint, the posts drew more than 5 million views in under 48 hours. Bolsonaro’s lawyers argue that he had never expressed an intention to alter the saint’s status and say the material was designed to alienate Catholic voters. They asked authorities to examine whether the circulation of information known to be false could amount to an electoral offence.

The dispute followed a GloboNews discussion in which journalist Maria Cristina Fernandes referred to religious-sector efforts concerning the title. The broadcaster later apologized and said the proposal at issue was not current: it was a bill introduced in 2007 and archived the following year. The measure, proposed by former congressman Professor Victorio Galli, would have changed the legal wording from “Patron Saint of Brazil” to “Patron Saint of Roman Catholic Brazilians.”

Bolsonaro and his supporters have emphasized that distinction. He said GloboNews was retracting a “lie” that there was a movement to remove the title, adding that “the project does not even exist.” Right-leaning commentator Rodrigo Constantino similarly described online reaction as a mix of “faith, elections and political attacks,” while noting Bolsonaro’s denial.

The reporting focused on the campaign’s complaint presents a narrower account: the old bill did exist, explicitly contemplated removing the broader title, but was rejected by a House committee and is no longer under consideration. The competing accounts therefore agree that no active proposal linked to Bolsonaro is before Congress, while differing over who bears responsibility for turning the archived measure into an election issue.

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