Instead of a manger in Bethlehem, Jesus will arrive this
Christmas in a badly burned clearing in the Amazon rainforest, a black baby
born to a black virgin with indigenous cherubs looking on.

The symbolically charged
nativity scene is already turning heads in Rio de Janeiro’s Gloria square,
where the nearby Church of the Sacred Heart has a history of using its annual
Christmas display to address contemporary issues.

There was a lot to choose from
in 2020, but the church picked two topics that have become particularly
pertinent in Brazil since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro took office last
year: racism and rampant deforestation in the Amazon.

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“This nativity scene is
meant to show that people who torch mother nature, people who attack their
brothers and sisters because their skin is a different color, don’t have God in
their hearts,” said church spokesman Mauricio Rodrigues dos Santos, 63.

The church has been making
mangers with a message for the past decade, taking advantage of its prime
location near Gloria square, a busy metro stop in front of the Rio archdiocese
headquarters.

Two years ago, the church
depicted a bare-breasted Mary nursing her baby, after a series of incidents in
which authorities stopped mothers from breast-feeding in public.

The year before, vandals
trashed the church’s nativity scene, which depicted the fight against
corruption.

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Last year, priest Wanderson
Guedes, who is also the artist behind the installations, decided against doing
a nativity scene on Amazon deforestation after receiving threats.

However, the church — which
constructs the scenes itself using volunteer labor and members’ donations —
decided to press ahead this year, and add an anti-racism message, as well.

They are salient subjects in
Bolsonaro’s Brazil.

The far-right leader has
presided over a surge of destruction and fires in the world’s biggest
rainforest.

He has also been charged with
hate speech for making derogatory comments about black Brazilians.

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Despite the tense political
climate, Dos Santos said the church community was not fearful for this year’s
nativity scene.

“If (vandals) break
something, so be it. We have a whole year to rebuild,” he told AFP.

“They can’t break the idea. They can’t break the spirit.
That will remain.”