🖋Fernando Duarte BBC World Service

Mary, the mother of Jesus, has become a hot topic in Brazil’s nationwide election campaign.

The struggle between the two leading presidential candidates has also highlighted deep political and religious divisions in the largest economy and most populous country in Latin America.

Polls suggest that in the October 4, 2026 voting, no one will win in the first round between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the current left-wing president, and Flávio Bolsonaro, the right-wing rival who is a senator and the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president. Jair Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest due to his efforts to carry out a government coup after losing to Lula in the 2022 election.

If no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the votes, the two leading candidates will face each other in the second round on 3 Aban 1405 (October 25, 2026). 📸GettyImages