The Press Department of the Heralds of the Gospel published on August 28, 2019, an extensive report entitled "Persecution of the Catholic Church in Brazil?", in which the fallacious statements contained in a report entitled "The secrets of Heralds: what hide the walls of castles inhabited by ultraconservative Catholic group", published on August 23, 2019 by the news portal Metropolises.
See the overall response plan here.
I. Introduction
The News Portal "Metropolises" published on 8/23/2019 extensive reporting with the title: "The secrets of the Heralds: what hide the walls of castles inhabited by ultraconservative Catholic group"[1]. It is based on the essence of statements of a scant number of former members (supposed, because they are all anonymous) and only two relatives of consecrated members. Now, all the Heralds voluntarily entered the institution, aiming at the greater good of the Church, society and brothers, as always occurred. Similarly, a myriad of Franciscans, Redemptorists, sisters of charity, and many other vocations are also consecrated in their own dioceses or in places of mission.
Just as these men and women freely embraced God's call, the press also enjoys their own freedom to function, as long as it does not hurt the basic principles of legality. However, it is observed in this report that it is a matter eivada of untruths, unfounded or openly false data, tergiversações, teratlogies, slanderous insinuations and defamations against the Heralds of the Gospel and, indirectly, against the very Roman Apostolic Catholic Church to which the Heralds, like so many priests and religious around the world, dedicate their lives and of which they honor the name. The report is therefore a serious offense to its members and their works, in the absence of their recognized practices of evangelization, in intimate collaboration and communion with hundreds of bishops and thousands of priests in almost 80 countries. Why then so much ferocity?
The whole arsenal of unfounded accusations seeks to uncover the image of the Heralds of the Gospel before people who do not know them sufficiently or ignore their ingent work of evangelization, tfinding them free of "destructive sect" that would carry out "brainwashing."
As for the alleged disregard of guidelines of the Ministry of Education practiced in herald colleges of the Gospel, it is worth remembering that these educational establishments are maintained by the Educational Institute Heralds of the Gospel (INEDAE), an entity legally constituted, non-profit, with cnpj itself. INEDAE strictly complies with the National Curriculum Parameters proposed by the Ministry of Eduction. Any accusation in the opposite direction needs to be proven.
The shooting of words and expressions, loaded with prejudices and repetitive platitudes, is proposed free of charge early in the matter: "parental alienation, brainwashing, sexual harassment, rape, physical and psychological violence, bullying, rape and correspondence control", in addition to "crimes such as physical and psychological abuse", which would cause "emotional trauma and great difficulty in resocializing" in those who freely integrate or integrated the association, and who freely also left it.
Now, they conjecture serious offenses, which are typified by law. And still without the support of evidence, but focusing only on ramblings of five people opposed to the institution (four of them anonymous). It is known, however, by the content of the reports, that they belong to an organized group, whose sole purpose is to incite hatred through social networks and denigrate the image of the institution. Well, the accusers should prove in court who committed these alleged crimes, because no complaint is unknown in this regard. Otherwise, this will be a manifest slander and defamation (Penal Code, art. 138-139).
In this perspective, it is the right of every Brazilian and every Catholic to know some clarifications on the subject. They do not intend to be exhausting, given the flood of futility and falsehoods of the text under analysis. To facilitate understanding, each of the chapters of the report will be briefly elucidated, preserving its original numbering.
[1]https://www.metropoles.com/materias-especiais/arautos-do-evangelho-os-segredos-escondidos-nos-castelos-do-grupo-catolico