Prosecution

Parents sentenced to prison in Brazil after excluding gender content in homeschool curriculum #Catholic A Brazilian couple was sentenced to 50 days in prison related to the homeschooling of their two daughters in an unprecedented case that has raised concerns regarding educational freedom and parental rights in Brazil.Audato and Ieda Denardi were found guilty of the crime of “intellectual neglect” by a court in the state of São Paulo, even though the prosecution itself had requested their acquittal after concluding that the minors were not suffering from any neglect and were demonstrating appropriate academic and social development.The Christian legal organization ADF International, which is representing the family in the appeal, denounced the case as “a grotesque abuse of criminal law” and stated that it would continue defending the couple.The conviction, initially handed down in April 2026 and currently under appeal before the Seventh Criminal Court Chamber of the São Paulo State Court of Justice, will remain suspended while the appeal is being resolved.‘I cannot conceive of a more dictatorial state’Ieda Denardi expressed her distress and defended the right of parents to choose their childrenʼs education.“As a mother, I cannot conceive of a more dictatorial state than the one that wants me in jail because I chose to exercise my right to direct the education and upbringing of my daughters,” she told ADF International.“My husband and I are hopeful the court will recognize our right to choose the best education for our children and overturn this unjust conviction,” she added.The couple began homeschooling their daughters in 2020 after realizing the limitations of the remote public education imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.Since then, they report a significant improvement in their daughters' academic performance and have been able to incorporate family values ​​and faith into their education.Judge takes into account the girls’ music preferencesOne of the most striking aspects of the case is the reasoning the judge used to reach the verdict. According to the ruling, the educational program provided by the parents did not include content regarding “gender and sex education” or “tolerance and diversity.”Furthermore, the court concluded that the fact that the girls, aged 15 and 11, do not enjoy popular musical genres such as “trap” or “sertanejo” demonstrated an alleged deficiency in their cultural education.The judge cited this despite the fact that both girls are pianists with advanced training and are fluent in several languages.In his ruling, the judge further accused the parents of “using their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle, subjecting them to a form of unregulated education, the effectiveness and quality of which lack adequate metrics within the Brazilian legal system, while completely excluding the state’s involvement.”The prosecution sought the parents' acquittal“The prosecutor examined the witnesses and recommended acquittal. An independent educational psychologist found no sign of neglect. The girls themselves described rigorous daily education,” explained Julio Pohl, legal counsel for Latin America at ADF International.However, “the judge convicted anyway,” he said, “because a fifteen-year-old said she finds some music lyrics morally questionable, and because the curriculum didn’t include state-approved content on gender.”“A parent has been sentenced to prison not for failing to educate her children, but for educating them according to her own values. This is a grotesque abuse of the criminal law, and we will not let it stand.” Pohl pledged.First criminal prosecution against homeschooling familiesAccording to ADF International, more than 70,000 children are currently being homeschooled in Brazil. However, a lack of regulation has left thousands of families in a state of uncertainty.The Denardi case sets a precedent as the first criminal conviction of parents for homeschooling their children.The situation has even reached the country’s legislature, where hearings were recently held on the matter, and the Denardis asked lawmakers to pass a law guaranteeing families the right to choose this educational model.Although a homeschooling bill was passed by the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) in 2022, the initiative remains stalled in the Senate.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Parents sentenced to prison in Brazil after excluding gender content in homeschool curriculum #Catholic A Brazilian couple was sentenced to 50 days in prison related to the homeschooling of their two daughters in an unprecedented case that has raised concerns regarding educational freedom and parental rights in Brazil.Audato and Ieda Denardi were found guilty of the crime of “intellectual neglect” by a court in the state of São Paulo, even though the prosecution itself had requested their acquittal after concluding that the minors were not suffering from any neglect and were demonstrating appropriate academic and social development.The Christian legal organization ADF International, which is representing the family in the appeal, denounced the case as “a grotesque abuse of criminal law” and stated that it would continue defending the couple.The conviction, initially handed down in April 2026 and currently under appeal before the Seventh Criminal Court Chamber of the São Paulo State Court of Justice, will remain suspended while the appeal is being resolved.‘I cannot conceive of a more dictatorial state’Ieda Denardi expressed her distress and defended the right of parents to choose their childrenʼs education.“As a mother, I cannot conceive of a more dictatorial state than the one that wants me in jail because I chose to exercise my right to direct the education and upbringing of my daughters,” she told ADF International.“My husband and I are hopeful the court will recognize our right to choose the best education for our children and overturn this unjust conviction,” she added.The couple began homeschooling their daughters in 2020 after realizing the limitations of the remote public education imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.Since then, they report a significant improvement in their daughters' academic performance and have been able to incorporate family values ​​and faith into their education.Judge takes into account the girls’ music preferencesOne of the most striking aspects of the case is the reasoning the judge used to reach the verdict. According to the ruling, the educational program provided by the parents did not include content regarding “gender and sex education” or “tolerance and diversity.”Furthermore, the court concluded that the fact that the girls, aged 15 and 11, do not enjoy popular musical genres such as “trap” or “sertanejo” demonstrated an alleged deficiency in their cultural education.The judge cited this despite the fact that both girls are pianists with advanced training and are fluent in several languages.In his ruling, the judge further accused the parents of “using their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle, subjecting them to a form of unregulated education, the effectiveness and quality of which lack adequate metrics within the Brazilian legal system, while completely excluding the state’s involvement.”The prosecution sought the parents' acquittal“The prosecutor examined the witnesses and recommended acquittal. An independent educational psychologist found no sign of neglect. The girls themselves described rigorous daily education,” explained Julio Pohl, legal counsel for Latin America at ADF International.However, “the judge convicted anyway,” he said, “because a fifteen-year-old said she finds some music lyrics morally questionable, and because the curriculum didn’t include state-approved content on gender.”“A parent has been sentenced to prison not for failing to educate her children, but for educating them according to her own values. This is a grotesque abuse of the criminal law, and we will not let it stand.” Pohl pledged.First criminal prosecution against homeschooling familiesAccording to ADF International, more than 70,000 children are currently being homeschooled in Brazil. However, a lack of regulation has left thousands of families in a state of uncertainty.The Denardi case sets a precedent as the first criminal conviction of parents for homeschooling their children.The situation has even reached the country’s legislature, where hearings were recently held on the matter, and the Denardis asked lawmakers to pass a law guaranteeing families the right to choose this educational model.Although a homeschooling bill was passed by the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) in 2022, the initiative remains stalled in the Senate.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The judge said the fact that the 15- and 11-year-old girls do not enjoy popular music demonstrated an alleged deficiency in their cultural education.

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Indian Catholics denied bail after confronting mob that disrupted Mass #Catholic UDAIPUR, India — Nine Catholics have been behind bars for more than two weeks after parishioners chased out more than a dozen people who barged into a village church during Mass, shouting accusations of conversion, in a remote village in Indiaʼs desert state of Rajasthan.“We feel frustrated that our people were denied bail a second time today on the false allegation of conversion,” Bishop Devprasad John Ganawa of Udaipur, a Divine Word missionary, told EWTN News on May 12.“When the hooligans disrupted the Mass on May 1 shouting ‘conversion,’ our people forced them out. Instead of registering a criminal case against the intruders, the police have charged our people with ‘conversion and attempt to murder’ and arrested nine Catholics of Bandaria Parish,” Ganawa explained.‘They took out a knife’“I was saying the evening Mass at the substation of my parish at Kalinjara village when the incident happened,” Father Arvind Amliyar recounted to EWTN News.“During the Communion time over a dozen people stormed into the church, shouted ‘conversion,’ and started filming with cameras. When one of them took out a knife, our people snatched it and chased them out,” Amliyar said.“Soon police came and what happened then shocked me. Instead of finding out what had happened, they arrested four Catholics the same night,” the priest said.A Hindu mob then staged a protest outside the police station and demanded action against the parishioners, according to Amliyar. Police turned away Catholics who went to them twice, including at midnight the same day and the next day, refusing to register their complaint.Police came knocking on May 4 at 2:30 a.m. and arrested five more parishioners, including Anil Rawat, 70, a retired headmaster of a government school who now runs a private school in the village.Bail denied twiceThe local magistrate court rejected the parishioners' bail application the next day, as they were charged with “serious crimes”: conversion and attempted murder. Church lawyers then moved the case to the Banswara district court, which denied bail again on May 12.“Now, we have to go to the High Court with senior lawyers,” Amliyar said of the challenging situation facing the village church, which serves about 70 Catholic families. About 70 people were attending Mass when the intruders stormed in.“I cannot understand what is going on. The police bluntly refused to register the complaint of our people and have filed a serious charge of conversion against our people and imprisoned them,” Ganawa said of the first case of alleged conversion in Udaipur Diocese, where he has served as bishop for 13 years.Anti-conversion laws ‘reduced to a tool to harass minorities’“This is another typical case of the widespread abuse of anti-conversion laws against Christians in several states, most of them ruled by the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party],” A.C. Michael, a Catholic and national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, which monitors atrocities against Christians, told EWTN News from New Delhi.Under the Indian criminal system, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. However, under recently enacted or amended anti-conversion laws, Michael said, the burden of disproving the charge of conversion is shifted to the accused, making it difficult for defendants to secure bail from trial courts quickly, even in fraudulent cases.Under the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, enacted in 2025, the burden of disproving the allegation of conversion falls on the accused.As a result, Michael said, hundreds of Christians are languishing in jails in BJP-ruled states while protracted legal challenges drag on in higher courts.“The shocking reality is that there has been hardly any conviction in so-called conversion cases. That is why the churches and Christian groups have moved the Supreme Court for abolishing the anti-conversion laws that have been reduced to a tool to harass minorities,” Michael said.He noted that the Supreme Court in May 2024 observed that certain provisions in anti-conversion laws may be in violation of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate oneʼs religion.The Feb. 4–10 biennial assembly of more than 200 bishops in India in Bangalore also reiterated this concern in its final statement: “As many innocent individuals are incarcerated based on unfounded allegations of forceful religious conversions, we strongly demand the repealing of legislations which are inconsistent with religious freedom and right to privacy.”
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Indian Catholics denied bail after confronting mob that disrupted Mass #Catholic UDAIPUR, India — Nine Catholics have been behind bars for more than two weeks after parishioners chased out more than a dozen people who barged into a village church during Mass, shouting accusations of conversion, in a remote village in Indiaʼs desert state of Rajasthan.“We feel frustrated that our people were denied bail a second time today on the false allegation of conversion,” Bishop Devprasad John Ganawa of Udaipur, a Divine Word missionary, told EWTN News on May 12.“When the hooligans disrupted the Mass on May 1 shouting ‘conversion,’ our people forced them out. Instead of registering a criminal case against the intruders, the police have charged our people with ‘conversion and attempt to murder’ and arrested nine Catholics of Bandaria Parish,” Ganawa explained.‘They took out a knife’“I was saying the evening Mass at the substation of my parish at Kalinjara village when the incident happened,” Father Arvind Amliyar recounted to EWTN News.“During the Communion time over a dozen people stormed into the church, shouted ‘conversion,’ and started filming with cameras. When one of them took out a knife, our people snatched it and chased them out,” Amliyar said.“Soon police came and what happened then shocked me. Instead of finding out what had happened, they arrested four Catholics the same night,” the priest said.A Hindu mob then staged a protest outside the police station and demanded action against the parishioners, according to Amliyar. Police turned away Catholics who went to them twice, including at midnight the same day and the next day, refusing to register their complaint.Police came knocking on May 4 at 2:30 a.m. and arrested five more parishioners, including Anil Rawat, 70, a retired headmaster of a government school who now runs a private school in the village.Bail denied twiceThe local magistrate court rejected the parishioners' bail application the next day, as they were charged with “serious crimes”: conversion and attempted murder. Church lawyers then moved the case to the Banswara district court, which denied bail again on May 12.“Now, we have to go to the High Court with senior lawyers,” Amliyar said of the challenging situation facing the village church, which serves about 70 Catholic families. About 70 people were attending Mass when the intruders stormed in.“I cannot understand what is going on. The police bluntly refused to register the complaint of our people and have filed a serious charge of conversion against our people and imprisoned them,” Ganawa said of the first case of alleged conversion in Udaipur Diocese, where he has served as bishop for 13 years.Anti-conversion laws ‘reduced to a tool to harass minorities’“This is another typical case of the widespread abuse of anti-conversion laws against Christians in several states, most of them ruled by the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party],” A.C. Michael, a Catholic and national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, which monitors atrocities against Christians, told EWTN News from New Delhi.Under the Indian criminal system, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. However, under recently enacted or amended anti-conversion laws, Michael said, the burden of disproving the charge of conversion is shifted to the accused, making it difficult for defendants to secure bail from trial courts quickly, even in fraudulent cases.Under the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, enacted in 2025, the burden of disproving the allegation of conversion falls on the accused.As a result, Michael said, hundreds of Christians are languishing in jails in BJP-ruled states while protracted legal challenges drag on in higher courts.“The shocking reality is that there has been hardly any conviction in so-called conversion cases. That is why the churches and Christian groups have moved the Supreme Court for abolishing the anti-conversion laws that have been reduced to a tool to harass minorities,” Michael said.He noted that the Supreme Court in May 2024 observed that certain provisions in anti-conversion laws may be in violation of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate oneʼs religion.The Feb. 4–10 biennial assembly of more than 200 bishops in India in Bangalore also reiterated this concern in its final statement: “As many innocent individuals are incarcerated based on unfounded allegations of forceful religious conversions, we strongly demand the repealing of legislations which are inconsistent with religious freedom and right to privacy.”

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Nine parishioners face conversion and attempted murder charges after forcing out intruders who stormed a village church during Mass in Rajasthan.

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