Book, Father Cícero: power, faith and war in the backlands[LS]

Padre Cícero is the result of ten years of research by Lira Neto, author of books such as The Enemy of the King: A biography of José de Alencar, awarded the Jabuti in 2007, and Maysa: only in a multitude of loves, which gave rise to TV Globo miniseries. In this biography, one of the most anticipated of the year, the author focuses on the life of the most beloved and controversial religious leader Brazil has ever had: Cícero Romão Batista, the "Padim Ciço" of pilgrims and believers. Based on rare and unpublished documents, the author recounts, in great detail, the priest's ninety years of life, from his birth in the backlands of Ceará to his consecration as a popular leader. Saint for some, impostor for others, in this biography Father Cícero is the target of a precise look, which dispels historical mistakes and helps us see the man behind the myth. Organized in chronological order, the book is divided into two parts, which explore different moments in Cicero's life. In "The Cross", the focus is on religion: his ordination as a priest, the supposed miracles, the first conflicts with the Ceará bishopric, which reached the Vatican and culminated in his removal from the Church. In "The Sword", what comes to the fore is politics, a career that Cicero embraced after being banned from ordering - and which made him one of the most influential men of his time. After fighting for the emancipation of Juazeiro, a city of which he was mayor for almost twenty years, Cícero was elected vice-president (the equivalent of vice-governor) of the state of Ceará. He even sponsored an army of jagunços, in an armed revolution that led to the overthrow of the local government; he approached Lampião, from whom he sought support to combat the Prestes Column; he engineered a historic pact between the country colonels, which helped to appease the region and made Juazeiro the center of Ceará's rural aristocracies. Towards the end of his life he was elected federal deputy, and still found the strength to oppose Getúlio Vargas, whom he classified as "Satan's messenger". It is this rich and troubled life that Cicero focuses on. At a time when, cornered in the face of evangelical advances, the Catholic Church is evaluating the canonical rehabilitation of the priest, this biography allows us to understand the true dimension of one of the most fascinating characters in our history - and also rescues some of the political and social concerns that helped shaping Brazil in the 20th century.