Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — The iconic Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) statue in Rio de Janeiro, a UNESCO World Heritage landmark, honored health professionals around the world battling the dreaded COVID-19 held recently on last Easter Sunday.
A special greeting was made to all Filipino medical workers and other frontliners with the words “Salamat” and “Pag-asa” which were flashed at particular moments of the show.
Cardinal Don Orani João Tempesta, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, said that the special Easter show aimed to convey “a message of hope and encouragement during this delicate moment of the world pandemic.”
The Archbishop later presided over the Consecration of Brazil at the foot of the statue, which was an event that had occurred only once in history—at the inauguration of the Christ the Redeemer statue in 1931.
Fr. Carlos Augusto Azevedo da Silva, Parish Vicar of the Holy Spirit and St. John the Baptist Parish in Maracana, reflected on the event:
“We look at the Christ and see from Him, so many exhausted health professionals and sick, many others, dead, in this world war against this little known virus, intensely studied, but that still fills us with doubts and uncertainties. They were not only Brazilian doctors, but they were The Redeemer who embraces the world—the Chinese, Italians, Spanish, Americans, Africans, Indians, French, English, Australians, Japanese, Koreans, in short, all nationalities were represented there and were, by Him, and also by us, embraced,” he said.
—
Stay updated with news and information from the DFA in Brazil by visiting their websites at https://www.brasiliape.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philembassybrasilia.org or
https://www.facebook.com/PHinBrazil.
