On April 4, 1968, the Seventh-Day Mass of Edson Luís, 16, student murdered by the military regime, was held at Candelária Church. But it ended with dozens of people wounded and imprisoned. When the first mass in the student’s memory ended, military police were waiting outside the church to begin the repression of those present with batons and swords. Jornal do Brasil wrote that the armed forces mobilized no less than 20-thousand police for the event.
On the second mass, in the afternoon, in order to prevent more repression, the Vicar General of Rio de Janeiro, D. José de Castro Pinto and 15 co-celebrants of the mass formed a corridor with clasped hands for the students to leave the church. “Escorting the students until Ave. Rio Branco, the priests, still in liturgical vestment, prevented another clash on the corner of Presidente Vargas with Rio Branco,” reveals Jornal do Brasil. But, even with the help of the priests, the journal tells that “the commander of the cavalry squadron ordered a charge against the multitude – around one thousand people – who marched along the sidewalk.” At the end of the day, the number of prisoner passed 600 people. The death of Edson was the beginning of the hardening of the Brazilian military regime, which led to the decree of AI-5.
On that same day, the leader of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, was assassinated in the United States.