This suggestion comes directly from one of our readers: Leonardo Reis asked us from Mega Curioso why the expression “God be praised” is imprinted on the real, since Brazil is a secular country.

For that, we need to go back a little in history. In the early 1980s, Brazil's total population was about 120 million people. Of these, 89% belonged to the Catholic religion. Only 1.6% of people said they had no religion, 6.6% were evangelical and 3.1% identified with other beliefs. So it is not surprising that the vast majority of society did not bother with the inclusion of the phrase in our currency in 1986.

At the time, we had just adopted the crusader, and then-President Jose Sarney requested that the Central Bank print the expression in the new currency. Sarney was based on other economic models, such as the US, which included the words “In God we trust” in dollar bills.

Expression "God be praised" appeared in 1986 in the Crusader notes

And the secular state?

For some years now, such secularism in Brazil is increasingly at the center of the debate. For secular advocates, the fact that the expression “God be praised” is present in our currency only demonstrates how our country is still politically connected with religion.

From 1980 until today, the religious spectrum has changed. The percentage of Catholics dropped to 64.6%, according to the 2010 IBGE census. Evangelicals already represent 22.2% of the population, and 5% belong to other creeds. The number of people who claim to be without religion has also risen to 8%.

In the secular state, no religion should interfere with public and social policies. All citizens should be treated equally regardless of their beliefs. Officially, Brazil is a secular country, as our Constitution provides for freedom and equality of creeds, as well as respect for different religious manifestations.

What we see, however, is an increasing number of religious in political positions, leading their dogmas into discussions and decisions in all spheres of power.

Expression Withdrawal

In 2010, the Federal Prosecutor's Office decided to “buy the fight” from the laity and asked the Central Bank to remove the expression “God be praised” from the royal notes as a way to contemplate all religions present in our country. The initiative came from prosecutor Jefferson Aparecido Dias, who is Catholic.

The proposal, however, did not succeed. In 2012, the Federal Court denied the prosecutor's request and decided that the term will continue to appear in our currency. Judge Diana Brunstein argued that the presence of the name of God in the royal notes does not interfere with the secular state, since their mere citation in the currency does not induce any individual to adopt any kind of religion based on money.

Former President of the Republic José Sarney was responsible for including the term in our money.

At the time, Jose Sarney, then president of the Senate, said the request to withdraw the term was "lack of what to do". He also claimed to have "sorry" for atheists. Since then, the subject has been practically forgotten, as the relationship between politics and religion has created other more urgent debates within the supposed secularity of the Brazilian state.

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And you, dear reader? What do you think about the presence of God's name in our currency? Do you believe the term hurts lay state definitions? Vote in our poll and leave your opinion in the comments.