Universal Church Removes Bishop in Sao Paulo, Brazil, After TV Attack on Our Lady of Aparecida Statue

A bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been removed from his post after he attacked an image of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil, on live television on October 12.

Sergio Von Helder struck and kicked the statue 22 times on the church’s television network, on the Day of Our Lady of Aparecida. Police provisionally charged him with public irreverence toward religious images, an offense that carries a maximum one-year prison term. Slightly more than two-thirds of Brazil’s population are Catholic.

During the broadcast, Von Helder said, “We are showing the people that this doesn’t work.” He also said, “This is not a saint. This is not God. Could it be possible that God, the Creator of the universe, be compared with a puppet like this, so ugly, so horrible, and so wretched?”

Edir Macedo, head of the church, which he founded in 1977 and which has 3.5 million members, apologized on television for Von Helder’s “thoughtless” and “foolish” attitude. The apology was a step toward reconciliation with the Catholic community, as Christ taught that the peacemakers are blessed (Matthew 5:9).

Catholic bishops first expressed outrage but later accepted the apology and celebrated special masses to honor Our Lady of Aparecida. The archbishop of Sao Paulo, Paulo Evaristo Arns, declined an invitation to appear on the Awaken to Faith program, the broadcast on which Von Helder struck the three-foot statue.

Other evangelical leaders issued statements against the act but maintained that the Bible explicitly forbids the worship of idols and images.

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