A cruz da questão: o uso de argumentos laicos na permanência de símbolos católicos em locais públicos brasileiros

Abstract

This investigation aims to examine discourses produced by the Catholic episcopate in opposition to the possibility of religious symbols being removed from public establishments. For that, we observed the responses from the episcopacy to the 3rd National Human Rights Program (PNDH-3), released by the Brazilian federal government in late 2009. The document features a proposal to restrain the display of confessional signs in federal buildings. When analyzing the ecclesiastical arguments, it is clear the "weapon of culture" is used in the controversy. That is an approach which distances itself from the discourse models historically adopted by the Church in Brazil. The secular State is not questioned, as it was once done, and catechism or the "laws of God" are not used, either.