Nonsense and Bunk – Folha de S. Paulo, September 18, 1968

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Speaking at the closing session of TFP’s successful signature collection campaign, I discussed the national situation’s positive and negative aspects, considering the public’s responses to leftist infiltration in Catholic circles.

The remarkable fact is that in a petition lasting only 58 days, conducted by our volunteers in 176 cities, 1,500,000 Brazilians from all social classes voiced their concern about this infiltration and urged Pope Paul VI to take measures to stop it.

This clearly reflects the mindset of most Brazilians and demonstrates a genuinely positive public opinion. In contrast, a negative aspect of the national reality is revealed by the reactions our campaign received from an angry minority.

a) We found no opponents interested in calm and elevated dialogue.

b) Across nearly all locations, our consistently polite and peaceful volunteers were targeted by riots and physical attacks from small groups of troublemakers. These individuals aimed to disrupt our collection stands and scare away the crowds coming to see us.

c) At the same time, some media outlets launched a wave of slander against the TFP to confuse the public and prevent them from signing the message to Paul VI.

When explaining these facts to the 1,500 residents of São Paulo who gathered at the Casa de Portugal auditorium, I concluded that the minority mentioned thinks exactly like Fr. Comblin. This agitator in a cassock (or perhaps a clergyman) states in his famous writing that the majority of Brazilians are free from leftist influence and that the minority must force a populist regime upon them. Just as the Soviet Union imposed its tyranny on Czechoslovakia, I commented.

Greeted by thunderous and endless applause, these reflections showed how strongly that large audience believed in my statements, so I am reluctantly obliged to reproduce them in this article.

Indeed, during the final days of our campaign, slanderous statements spread in a single news story that was widely covered by the press, like the grand finale of a fireworks display. I don’t know which irresponsible outlet published it first, but it was reprinted by many newspapers whose prestige makes them worth paying attention to.

We do not believe this last-ditch attack had any effect on the public. These slanders were so filled with hatred that they went beyond all bounds of plausibility. “Everything exaggerated is insignificant,” Talleyrand once said. Nothing is more insignificant than an exaggerated and far-fetched lie. Therefore, the TFP usually ignores this collection of falsehoods.

However, one situation requires us to speak out because they accused the country’s First Lady of these lies. Therefore, chivalry compels us to clarify the matter.

The basic accusation is that the TFP skillfully convinced Mrs. Iolanda Costa e Silva to sign a manifesto against Chilean President Frei. Alarmed, the police reportedly started a secret investigation into our organization. In turn, this investigation allegedly uncovered that our volunteers are subjected to Nazi-fascist discipline and earn 20 new cruzeiros per day from the TFP to work on the campaign, and that the organization spends 1.5 million new cruzeiros each month.

The claim that supposedly led to the investigation is unfounded. The TFP never issued a manifesto against Frei, so it never requested Mrs. Costa e Silva’s signature. The head of state’s wife signed our message asking Paul VI to take action against leftist infiltration in Brazilian Catholic circles. However, this publicly available message makes no mention of Frei, and it would be ridiculous if it did.

It is well known that one of our National Council members, Mr. Fábio Vidigal Xavier da Silveira, published a book 14 months ago containing a sharp and insightful report on the Frei government. This report includes several criticisms of the political course of our friendly country’s head of state. However, it is absurd to claim that those who signed our message to Paul VI implicitly affirm that they know and endorse that report, as if endorsing someone’s stance on one very specific issue automatically means they approve of all the actions taken in completely different areas.

We consider President Frei too intelligent to have raised any objections about this issue.

We waited for Frei to leave our territory before publishing this denial. Here it is for Folha de S. Paulo’s many readers and, through osmosis, for readers across Brazil.

The rest of the slander automatically falls away. Mrs. Costa e Silva was not fooled (and her well-known intelligence would have kept her from being fooled), so there couldn’t have been an investigation into the issue, and no evidence against the TFP was found.

What can be said about the merit of the remaining accusations? “Quod gratis datur gratis negatur.” It has been claimed that they are true. We categorically deny this. Let anyone with evidence present it.

Regarding the Nazi-fascism accusation, let me say a word. When right-wing totalitarianism posed a real and imminent threat to the country, many current leaders of the TFP wrote for São Paulo’s Catholic weekly Legionário, which I directed. Its pages have documented our ongoing, brave, and unwavering fight against Nazi-fascism in all its forms. Since then, some prominent figures of the far-right totalitarian movement have shifted to the progressive side, seeking new forms of fame. However, many people keep this hidden.