Lula fulfills electoral agenda with evangelicals in Rio de Janeiro

Brasilia, Sep 9 (Prensa Latina) Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday fulfills an electoral agenda in São Gonçalo municipality, state of Rio de Janeiro, where he participates in a public act and expects to meet with evangelical leaders.

The meeting, called Evangelicals with Lula and Alckmin, (the latter former Governor Gerardo and his running mate), will take place at the Seven Music Cultural Center.

Pastor Paulo Marcelo, a federal deputy candidate for Solidarity, a party supported by Lula, will be there for this exchange of opinions.

According to Folha de Sao Paulo, the PT’s offensive to regain ground in churches has so far been sluggish, with little more than videos aimed at Christians and a Google ad with a link that denies the fake news about Lula’s intention to destroy churches.

About the issue, the PT’s official website assures that in the period in which the political organization governed Brazil between 2003 and 2016, the number of evangelicals in the country grew by 129 percent, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Datafolha Institute.

In addition to objective factors that contributed to this increase, such as the economic prosperity promoted by the PT governments’ policies, there was a fundamental element: the religious freedom and the strengthening of the human and social ties, promoted during the PT mandates.

The website details that, in December 2003, Lula approved the law that allowed the shrines and religious associations to become legal entities, so that they would no longer be classified as simple class entities, such as soccer clubs and other non-religious organizations.