March for Jesus at the end of the Flour Festival, in Cruzeiro do Sul, in 2023 City Hall of Cruzeiro do Sul The notice that provided for the transfer of R$2.4 million to hold the March for Jesus in 21 municipalities in Acre was canceled by the Elias Mansour Culture Foundation (FEM). The decision was published on June 24 in the Official State Gazette (DOE) before the selection of entities and the release of resources. To g1, the president of FEM, Matheus Gomes, stated that the decision to cancel the notice was taken after analyzing the deadlines necessary to execute the process. According to the manager, no entity signed up during the period in which the notice was open. ? Join the g1 AC channel on WhatsApp This Tuesday (13), the Public Ministry of Acre (MP-AC) released a recommendation that guided the immediate suspension of the call, under the argument of defending the state's secularism. However, FEM explained that the notice had already been cancelled. The cancellation occurred a week after the publication of the call notice, which aimed to select an organization to coordinate religious events in the state. The request for publication of the notice came from the Civil House, already under the Mailza Assis (PP) government. Religious debate about the mixture of religion and politics READ ALSO: March for Jesus is declared cultural and intangible heritage in Acre: 'solidarity, respect and citizenship' Acre is the state with the highest proportion of evangelicals in the country, according to Census 2022 Ipec: 63% say the State needs to be secular for democracy to exist ?? Created three decades ago, the March for Jesus has consolidated itself as one of the main religious events on the Acre calendar, bringing together thousands of participants every year in a public manifestation of faith that runs along the capital's main roads. Lack of Deadline According to FEM management, it was found that there would not be enough time to complete the stages of the contest before the restrictions imposed by electoral legislation. "The notice was canceled on June 24th. There was no registration of entities and there was no expenditure of public resources", he stated. Still according to Gomes, FEM even suspended the notice to evaluate adjustments, but later decided to definitively cancel it. Matheus Gomes explained that the R$2.4 million would be divided between 21 municipalities in Acre, excluding Rio Branco where the festival took place on May 30th. The objective, according to the foundation, was to support marches in interior municipalities. "Many people confused the total value of the notice with the March for Jesus in Rio Branco, but the resources were destined for the interior," he said. According to FEM, the resources provided for in the notice did not belong to the State Culture Fund and were not even transferred to the foundation. The money, according to him, would be transferred by the State Treasury only if the process was completed and the entity selected. “The resource remains in the state treasury. It [value] did not come from any cultural source and did not reach the FEM”, he claimed. What the recommendation says In the recommendation signed by prosecutor Thalles Ferreira Costa, the MP-AC determined the suspension of all acts related to the notice, including possible approval of results, signing of a collaboration agreement and transfer of public resources. The body also recommended that, in any new call, FEM adopt neutral and non-confessional criteria for qualifying participating entities. The president of FEM considered that a new notice should not be published. Furthermore, the Public Ministry pointed out the need for a minimum period of 30 days for registrations, objective criteria of technical capacity, prior legal opinion and technical justification for linking the event that would take place close to the period of political campaigns in the state. The recommendation was also forwarded to the State Audit Court (TCE-AC) and the Public Heritage Defense Prosecutor's Office for analysis of the appropriate measures. The celebration in Rio Branco took place amid the MP-AC's monitoring of public resources for the march. VIDEOS: g1