‘No one disrespects Our Lady’: fears for Brazil’s patron saint grip country ahead of election

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva holding an image of Our Lady of Aparecida. His rival Flávio Bolsonaro has called claims he plans to unseat the patron saint ‘fake news’. Photograph: Jarbas Oliveira/EPA

A row of Biblical proportions has erupted in the run-up to Brazil’s presidential election, with the country’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, emerging as an unlikely kingmaker in the deadlocked race.

Ahead of Sunday’s vote, the two frontrunners – the leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his far-right challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro – are level in the polls.