Would Jair Bolsonaro (PL) be a Freemason? There is an old video of the current president in a Masonic temple that tries to sell this idea. Undated, the recording, which shows him presenting himself as a deputy, is being used as a weapon with the potential to wreak havoc on one of its most solid bases, the evangelical one.
THE Sheet talked to four Bolsonarist pastors. Two claim that the impact will be null in the reelection campaign. Two others admitted that some believing voters might be shaken by the images.
“If it proves that this is fake news, no harm done,” says Silas Malafaia, leader of the Vitória em Cristo Assembly of God. “If it’s true, little damage, because it’s not a religious issue.”
In an excerpt of the recording also recovered by social networks, Malafaia, however, seems to disapprove of the idea. “Freemasonry is not for us. There are things that are valid for anyone, for the people of God it is useless, for the people of God it is useless, ok? We are from the light, we come out of the darkness.”
Also without an estimated date, the filming begins with him on his TV show, responding to a viewer who asks him about videos that relate to the theme. “If I’m Freemasonry,” he says, “only if the grand master is Jehovah. Go see if I’m around the corner, boy. What a damn Freemasonry.”
When questioned, the pastor recalled a video that shows the president’s PT opponent in a Candomblé ritual. “Do you want something worse than Lula taking a pass at a macumba center? Freemasonry is a society to which I do not belong and I am against a Christian belonging, I do not deny it. “
Later, he shared a video returning to the theme, which was seen on the left as a sign that Bolsonaristas fear harmful effects to the campaign. Being on the defensive would be a sample of that.
He says that “the president is president of all” and it’s ok to “go to the evangelical church, the Catholic church, other religions or Freemasonry, which is a society, that’s up to him”. He reiterates that he is against Evangelical Freemasonry, but says that “Evangelical people have discernment” and will not be manipulated.
Apostle César Augusto, from the Fonte da Vida church, said that the video of Bolsonaro speaking at the Masonic lodge, which he classified as fake news, “can cause great damage, and its authors must be investigated and punished”.
The theme has been used before to stir up the Christian base. There is a somewhat anecdotal example: in 2018, then Bolsonaro’s opponent, Cabo Daciolo accused the evangelical brothers Marco Feliciano and Malafaia of getting involved with Freemasonry. There is no proof of this.
The Bolsonarist deputy Carla Zambelli got married in 2020 in a Masonic ceremony, which at the time even drew a joke from the now elected senator Sergio Moro, still a minister in the Bolsonaro government.
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“Being a Freemason wedding, I didn’t know if I could talk, because it’s all secret. I don’t know if I can say that I’m a witness or that I’m not a witness to the wedding”, joked the former judge, one of the best men. First lady Michelle Bolsonaro went to the party without her husband, on a business trip.
Many religious groups, as part of evangelicals, compare Freemasonry to a sect. Researcher at the Institute of Religious Studies and Baptist pastor, Clemir Fernandes recalls that, in its origin, Brazilian Protestantism maintained relations with Freemasonry while reacting strongly to it. Even today there are pastors and faithful Masons, but, as a rule, similar organizations are not well regarded in the middle.
“Freemasonry is seen as a kind of religion, for having symbols, rites, liturgy, clothing”, says Fernandes. “And the Christian faith would be enough for a person’s life. If he needs another religious relationship, it is received as almost a denial of the sufficiency of Christ himself.”
The whole secret aura that surrounds the stores also causes distrust, according to Fernandes. “It’s associated with the occult, hiding something. It doesn’t sit well with the evangelical tradition.”
“Freemasonry: Darkness or Light?”, a film posted on YouTube in 2019, emphasizes this revulsion. The synopsis reads: “This is an enlightening documentary about Freemasonry, it is a warning to Christians not to be deceived.”
The other major Christian arm of the country is even more averse to the matter. The Vatican has already stated that Masonic principles are incompatible with the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
In 1983, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document on behalf of the Holy See reinforcing “the negative opinion of the church regarding Masonic associations”.
“The faithful who belong to Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and cannot approach Holy Communion,” he said at the time.
In 2018, General Antônio Hamilton Mourão, a Freemason for more than two decades, included in his campaign as Bolsonaro’s deputy visits to temples of this fraternity of men who, with philanthropic and philosophical pretensions added to a history of political successes, exist under the air of secret society. He then presented himself as guarantor of the then deputy who wanted to become president.
Although many Freemasons prefer the adjective “discreet” to “secret”, there is still zeal in pointing out who is who and what are the rites for entering the club. Among illustrious Freemasons are American presidents (at least 15 of them, such as George Washington), thinkers (Voltaire), musicians (Mozart), emperors (Dom Pedro 1º) and military (Duque de Caxias). Ditto for former president Michel Temer, former São Paulo governor Márcio França and former São Paulo mayor Bruno Covas, who died in 2021.
In the video that stirred up social media, Bolsonaro speaks at a kind of altar adorned with traditional Freemasonry symbols, such as the square and compass, in addition to other triangular symbols. He talks about corruption, ideological issues and claims to have “left the comfort zone” of the parliamentary mandate to walk around Brazil and investigate “what are the big problems we have to face”.
The Lula team is studying to incorporate the video of the president in Freemasonry to its campaign. An ally of the former president, deputy André Janones (Avante-MG) came forward and did a live this Tuesday (4). have there and such”. The mother-in-law, however, would have shown him a video explaining “what happens there, the people who sell their souls, the deal with the goat there, etc.”
Janones continued: “We don’t know what Bolsonaro negotiated there in Freemasonry for them to support him. I’m not saying he did that. But I can’t guarantee, for example, that he didn’t negotiate on behalf of the voters themselves.” He gave as an example the Bolsonarista André Valadão, pastor of his church, who would have already spoken out against the merger between Freemasonry and Christians.
He chose as the setting for the live the courtyard of the Temple of Solomon, of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, closed with Bolsonaro.
