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The Shepherd Valdemiro Santiago, leader of the World Church of God, is the target of a crime report for “possible fraud.” The lawsuit was filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), through the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of the 5th Region in Recife (PE). In a video posted on various web pages, the pastor appears announcing bean seeds with supposed powers to heal COVID-19.
As the MPF points out, the pastor does not explicitly speak of payment, but uses the keyword “purpose”, in this way, victims would not make payments, but “purposes”. According to the lawsuit, despite the linguistic disguise, the purpose is clear: worshipers must pay predetermined amounts to obtain magic beans that can cure them. COVID-19, even in severe cases. In the material published by the MPF, the agency emphasizes that the pastor reinforces the idea that “it is not enough to have faith or to be a follower of the religious leader, since there is no possibility that the faithful without economic conditions receive the product.” The seeds will only be delivered to those who show proof of payment.
“For the MPF, it is clear to use religious influence and the mystique of religion to gain personal advantage (or for the benefit of the IMPD), misleading victims, as there is no known evidence of a cure for Covid -19 through some deity. ” nor eating or planting magic beans. According to the communication, the pastor practically mocked the good faith of his followers, reporting that the seeds will germinate and the plant will write “Be a blessing”, which is the mystical advertising slogan of religious organization, “says material published by the agency.
Republic of Wellington regional lawyer Cabral Saraiva, author of crime news, points out that in Christian denominations, the tradition in which the IMPD is embedded, religious commercialism has always been a reprehensible practice. “Negotiating spiritual favors seems incompatible with the religious affiliation with which the denounced Valdemiro Santiago apparently identifies himself,” says the prosecutor.
The MPF clarifies that it does not intend to interfere with religious freedom “or criminalize the financial contribution of faithful to the churchbecause they have expenses that must be paid. “However, according to the agency,” unscrupulous individuals cannot be allowed to deceive vulnerable people and harm public faith. ” It is not about restricting people in general, professing the faith they desire, and worshiping the deities of their choice, in whatever way they choose. It is about preventing certain people from using this set of beliefs to obtain an illegitimate economic advantage, using the beliefs of others, through sophisticated advertising, psychological and technological schemes, ”says the crime news.
Wellington Saraiva points out that the pastor would become a global personality if he really could or knew how to prevent or cure cases of infection with the new coronavirus. “If he were not a religious leader interested only in obtaining money from unsuspecting victims, he would offer this solution not only to those who could pay him, but to all of humanity. This would be an important step in the reconnection between man and his deities, which characterizes religions, “he declared.
The best scientists in the world are looking for a cure for covid-19. The disease has already infected 145,328 Brazilians and has killed 9,897 people. Globally, there are 3,855,812 thousand infected victims and 265,862 fatalities.
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