Brazilian Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against Catholic priest for religious discrimination

November 29, 2016, the Brazilian Supreme Court voted 4-1 to dismiss a lawsuit for religious discrimination against Catholic priest Jonas Abib. Priest Abib is the author of book “Yes, Yes, No, No – Reflections on healing and liberation” published in 2007.  In the book – which has sold over 400,000 copies in Brazil but has recently been ordered confiscated by a judge in the state of Bahia – priest Abib “warns readers against the dangers of the occult, which includes the “Afro-Brazilian” religions known as spiritualism.” In the lawsuit, Priest Abib was accused by the state of Bahia of “making false and prejudiced statements about the spiritualist religion as well as religions from Africa, like Umbanda and Candomble, as well as a flagrant incitement to destruction and disrespect for their objects of worship.” However, four Supreme Court justices found that remarks in the book about the Afro-Brazilian religions Camdomble and Umbanda were not discrminatory.