Lula attends the funeral of Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns.
The former president arrived at the Sé Cathedral around 19:30 PM and had left before 19:45 PM; there, Lula said that "the flesh may pass, but the ideas, the dedication to the poor, the love he dedicated to the people of São Paulo and the Brazilian people will continue forever"; for the former president, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns died "unjustly" for not having received the Nobel Peace Prize; "He deserved it more than anyone."
247, with Agência Brasil - Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was at the Sé Cathedral on Thursday evening, the 15th, where the body of Cardinal and Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of São Paulo, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, is being laid in state. Lula arrived at the location around 19:30 PM and had left the cathedral before 19:45 PM.
Lula arrived accompanied by São Paulo city councilman Antonio Donato (PT) and former Minister of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic Paulo Vannuchi. Lula spoke for a few minutes with relatives of the cardinal and Father Júlio Lancellotti - who is now presiding over one of the masses in honor of Dom Paulo. Lula left the place without speaking to the press.
"He had the courage to speak out, he had the courage to receive people that nobody wanted to receive, to denounce what nobody dared to denounce, when the press was silent, in accordance with the military regime, a voice cried out to the world, and that was Dom Paulo. I think he dies... the flesh is gone, but the ideas, the dedication to the poor, the love he dedicated to the people of São Paulo and to the Brazilian people will continue forever," declared the former president at the site.
Lula also said that Dom Paulo, "more than anyone," deserved to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. "I think the person most wronged by those who choose the Nobel Peace Prize has died today. He was forgotten," he stated. On Wednesday, upon learning of Dom Paulo's death, Lula released a statement saying that Brazil "lost one of its greatest symbols in the fight for justice."
Dom Paulo's wake began at 20 pm yesterday (14) and will continue uninterrupted until tomorrow afternoon, when the burial will take place. A mass will begin every two hours, totaling 23 masses with the body present. In between masses, people can approach the body for farewells and prayers.
The burial ceremony will take place tomorrow, starting at 15 pm, with a funeral mass presided over by the Archbishop of São Paulo, Dom Odilo Scherer.