Conference Religious Intolerance in Brazil: The Case of Rio de Janeiro
Legal, Political and Social Dimensions of Religious Freedom in Brazil
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
The seminar addresses religious intolerance in Brazil through the experience of Rio de Janeiro, bringing together the legal, political and social dimensions of religious freedom. It will explore the concept of tolerance, Brazilian Religious Law and its main regulatory frameworks, the secular nature of the State and its contemporary challenges, as well as the experience of implementing affirmative action and public policies aimed at promoting and protecting religious freedom in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Speaker presentation
Márcio Dodds Righetti Mendes, known by the pseudonym Márcio de Jagun, holds a degree in Law from Universidade Cândido Mendes, a Master's degree in Education and a PhD in Philosophy from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), a post-doctorate in the Science of Religion from Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), and a post-doctorate in Philosophy, with a specialisation in Afro-Metaphysics, from UERJ.
He is a Professor of Philosophy and Yoruba Culture at the Programa de Estudos e Pesquisas das Religiões (PROEPER/UERJ) and a Professor of Yoruba Language, Philosophy and Culture at the Programa de Línguas Estrangeiras Modernas (PROLEM/UFF). He is a member of the Kékeré research group at UERJ's Postgraduate Programme in Education and works as a consultant for IPHAN on the inclusion of the Yoruba language in the National Inventory of Linguistic Diversity.
A lawyer specialising in Human Rights, with a focus on legislation concerning religious freedom, he is a founding member of the Conselho Estadual de Defesa e Promoção da Liberdade Religiosa. He served as State Superintendent for the Defence and Promotion of Religious Freedom of Rio de Janeiro (2017–2021) and as Executive Coordinator for Religious Diversity of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro (2022–2025). In 2022, he was awarded the title of Benemérito do Estado do Rio de Janeiro for his work in public administration in defence of religious freedom and for his cultural contributions, and was elected a member of the Academia Pan-Americana de Letras e Artes.
His academic and cultural work focuses on African philosophy and theology, Yoruba religion, Candomblé, decolonial thought and religious freedom. He is the author of several works, including Orí – a Cabeça como Divindade (2015), Odù – os Yorubas e o Destino (2016), Yorùbá – Vocabulário Temático do Candomblé (2017), Ewé: a Chave do Portal (2019), Nkó Yorùbá – Gramática, Conversação e Tradução (2020) and Filosofia Descolonial do Candomblé Nagô (2024).
