The priest’s defense José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva — one of the 37 indicted in the Federal Police (PF) final report on the attempted coup d’état — states that he held religious services with former president Jair Bolsonaro and his former advisor Filipe Martins. The PF investigation involves Bolsonaro and 36 other people, including military personnel, former government members and civilians.
According to investigators, the priest would have participated in meetings in Brasília to discuss the “draft of a coup d’état” and would be part of the legal group that wrote the decree. The report also mentions that the priest had sent “a kind of ‘coup prayer’” to Frei Gilson, a priest with 5 million followers whose social media accounts were recently blocked, without explanation.
In the message sent by José Eduardo, the parish priest requested that all Brazilians, Catholics and evangelicals, include in their prayers the names of Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira and sixteen other four-star generals.
The request would be for God to give these people courage to “save Brazil”, acting with historical awareness and “not just like public servants in uniform”. The message mentioned the names of the soldiers who would receive prayers, and suggested that Friar Gilson forward the text “only to people of strict trust”.
According to the PF report, the content demonstrates that “Jose Eduardo, shortly after Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in the presidential elections, was already disseminating the idea of a Coup d’Etat supported by the Armed Forces, to keep the then president in power and prevent the inauguration of the elected government”.
What Father José Eduardo de Oliveira’s defense says
However, Father José Eduardo’s defense informs that the prayer request mentioned is one of the countless “that he has done, does and will do throughout his life” to people he trusts. “There is no suggestion of a coup in the message and there is not even a text of prayer”, points out lawyer Miguel Vidigal, in a note.
According to him, what happened is that, “in the desire to prove the impossible, the report demonstrates that the priestly secrecy of the religious and faithful was broken, through the artifice of fishing expeditiona practice often condemned by the Federal Supreme Court (STF)”.
According to the defense, the PF “infringes jurisprudence and the Federal Constitution, and also violates the Brazil-Holy See International Treaty, signed by Brazil and transformed into a decree by President Lula”.
To Gazeta do Povo, the lawyer also informed that Father José Eduardo has been traveling for years spiritually assisting people who ask for his help and that, among these services, are requests from Brasília.
“He was even, at the invitation of the then President of the Chamber, Deputy Rodrigo Maia, at the dinner to celebrate the inauguration as Minister of the STF of Minister Alexandre de Moraes”, said Vidigal.
“He was even, at the invitation of the then President of the Chamber, Deputy Rodrigo Maia, at the dinner to celebrate the inauguration as Minister of the STF of Minister Alexandre de Moraes”
Miguel Vidigal, lawyer for Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva
The defense therefore confirms that the priest was in a meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro and Filipe Martins, but points out that “it was religious service”, without any relation to a legal core related to the coup decree.
“Also because the priest is not a lawyer and, therefore, does not have any technical knowledge to produce a document of this nature”, points out Vidigal, also mentioning that the priest’s relationship with former advisor Filipe Martins is a result of the Pro-Life Movement.
Who is José Eduardo de Oliveira and what else does the report say about him?
In the PF report, an email is even presented (image below) regarding the topic sent by the priest to Filipe Martins. In the message, dated July 2, 2020, the priest asks to schedule a meeting with then-president Bolsonaro to discuss the legal provisions in force regarding this topic in Brazil.
According to the parish priest’s defense, since 2013, he has been visiting Brasília, “not only for spiritual services, but also in defense of life, fighting against the crime of abortion”.
The report also mentions that Father José Eduardo had saved the phones of those under investigation on his cell phone, such as the jurist Amauri Feres Saad — alleged author of the Coup draft — and also Eduardo Bolsonaro and Jair Bolsonaro. One of the contacts found with the former president’s name was created in 2013, while the most recent is from November 18, 2022.
According to the PF, the day after that date one of the meetings between Filipe Martins and Jair Bolsonaro would have taken place to discuss “the draft of the Coup d’Etat, where Father José Eduardo was also present”.
Who is José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva?
Catholic priest José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva was born in Piracicaba (SP) in 1981, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Osasco in 2006 and today works in the São Domingos Parish, on the outskirts of Osasco, in the São Paulo metropolitan region.
He has a doctorate in Moral Theology from the University of the Holy Cross, in Rome, and also works as a speaker and lecturer. He has more than 430 thousand followers on his profiles and is known for dealing with topics such as gender, family, defense of life and education.
