Controversy and vandalism

Shortly after it was unveiled, in October 2017, the statue was the subject of an organised protest action by anti-racist advocacy group Descolonizando ("Decolonising"), who judged Vieira was "selectively pro-slavery", associated him and the Catholic Church with the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil, and called Jesuit evangelisation "the greatest responsible for Amerindian ethnocide".^[2] The planned protest — an homage to the indigenous peoples of the Americas with flowers, candles, signs and a poetry reading — did not take place as the square was occupied by a counter-demonstration by far-right group Associação de Iniciativa Cívica Portugueses Primeiro ("The Portuguese First Civic Association"), with alleged ties to the Hammerskins.^[2]

Following the murder of George Floyd on 25 May 2020 during a police arrest in the United States, protests broke out internationally, showing opposition to racism worldwide, with a number of statues and memorials being the subject of protests. In Lisbon, a peaceful demonstration and march of about 10,000 people took place on 6 June without incident.^[3] Five days after, on 11 June, the statue of António Vieira was found to have been defaced: the priest's mouth, hands, and habit were covered in red paint, the figures of the indigenous children were branded with hearts, and the word "Decolonise" was graffitied across the plinth.^[4] The action was publicly condemned by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who called it a "truly imbecile" gesture, saying "it is difficult not to know that Father António Vieira was one of the greatest characters in the country's history... he fought for independence, was a great diplomat, was a very progressive man for his time", and showed concern for gratuitous extremism that "does nothing, in practice, to change the living conditions of those who are discriminated".^[5] The City Council had the monument cleaned later that same day.^[6]