By Pastor Leonardo Rocha
If you think the latest controversy over Our Lady of Aparecida has anything to do with religion, tradition or theology, you’ve fallen for a cognitive trap set by the rich and powerful.
Women hold the image of Our Lady of Aparecida during mass at the Sanctuary. (A12)
A type of theology has been gaining ground in Brazil. It’s discussed with none of the elegance, and even less of the subtlety, than the “dominion theology” it echoes. This theology seeks to claim the seven mountains of influence, and one of those mountains is religion. It wants to build a religious culture that it completely dominates and controls. And what happens to other religious cultures? They either convert to it or are eliminated by it.
This theology doesn’t just operate in the realm of ideas or compete over narratives. It works on feelings. It works on emotions. And it seeks to build a religious culture that is completely intolerant, one that aims to force society, politics, culture, religion and education into its own worldview. What we’re facing is a radical, fundamentalist project of domination, and a completely violent one.
Pope Francis holds the image of Our Lady of Aparecida at the national sanctuary in the city of Aparecida, São Paulo, in 2013 (A12)
This isn’t something new. It’s been happening for years. How many times have you seen a statue of a saint kicked over? Have you seen people handing out flyers on the feast day of Our Lady of Aparecida? Evangelicals invading the spaces of other religions to compete for that arena as if it were a religious contest?
Pilgrims arrive at the national sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida. It's Instagram page was censored by Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonça. (A12)
But now this has taken on a political dimension that is extremely dangerous, and authorities and institutions should be on alert. Bit by bit, this has taken on very dangerous shapes here in Brazil. What began as a fight over religious spaces has started becoming a fight over social spaces. We’ve reached the point of absurdity where evangelical drug traffickers have controlled territory through violence, sold drugs and killed people, all in the name of Jesus, waving the flag of Israel and calling themselves evangelical.
That is the power of religion. It has the ability to purify any atrocity in the name of its own banner. This controversy reveals only that the serpent is breaking through the shell of the egg.
Leonardo Rocha is an Evangelical Christian Pastor and historian from Rio de Janeiro. This text is a transcription and translation of an Instagram post by Rocha on September, 27, 2026.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Panamerican Dispatch.