INTERNATIONAL: Brazil’s most famous monument, and the seventh wonder of the world, Christ the Redeemer, has celebrated 90 years of history on the 12th of October. In a celebration at the Catedral Metropolitana in Rio’s Downtown, the Mayor Eduardo Paes made a speech of conciliation between Brazil’s Catholic Church and the Government’s Environmental Organ ICMBio.
The religious organization and the ICMBio fought over the control of the Monument. It was inaugurated in 1931 by the Catholic church, but at that time the area, where the monument was built, was not yet a National Park of the Tijuca Forest, controlled by the ICMBio.
The situation got heated in April this year, when the Parson of Christ the Redeemer Sanctuary, Priest Omar Raposo, decided to hold a Mass ceremony at the Monument without notifying the ICMBio. The Priest was forbidden to take the ceremony at the top of the monument, which caused Omar Raboso to sue ICMBio with the “Religious Intolerance” crime. ICMBio answered the prohibition of the Mass was following the Covid-19 strict measures.
But this Tuesday, October 12th, the ceremony of the 90-year-old Christ the Redeemer used the Monument as a representation of peace to find a solution. Brazil’s Minister of Environment said the Federal Government is giving a special attention to the cause, and Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes has promised to give the possession of the monument to the Catholic Church.
Eduardo Paes said: “The monument represents cordiality and the capacity of our people to welcome and receive all visitors. Christ the Redeemer means faith and hope for the future”.
