4: Breaking the Silence

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Two-Faced: John of God
Episode 4: Breaking the Silence
Airdate: February 18, 2026
Host: Martina Castro
Production: Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

Episode 4, "Breaking the Silence," explores how allegations of sexual abuse against João Teixeira de Faria, better known as John of God—a globally celebrated Brazilian faith healer—were brought to public attention. Through the determined work of journalists Camila Appel and Cristina Phoebe, and the courage of survivors and witnesses, long-standing rumors of abuse became actionable news, sparking nationwide reckoning and an official investigation. The episode unpacks the difficult path from whispered secret to headline news, the barriers journalists faced, and the climate that allowed such crimes to go unchallenged for so long.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Risk and Courage In Breaking the Story

• Camila Appel's Investigation
  • Camila, a screenwriter for a popular late-night show on Globo, led months-long secret efforts to build the case against John of God (01:56–04:23).
  • Nicknamed "Operation Glauber," their project’s scope and danger made Camila anxious:

    “We were doing something very, very, very courageous. Very risky.” — Camila Appel (01:56)

  • The stakes were high: If the story was quashed, survivors would be even more vulnerable than before, having risked exposure by talking to Camila (04:50).
  • Camila reflects on her personal sacrifice:

    "Two months and a half, 24 hours a day. …I was very obsessed with taking this story public. …You swim and swim… and then when you get there, you die at the beach… No, I'm swimming, I'm swimming. I don't want to stop here. I need this to come out." — Camila Appel (05:19)

2. Uncovering Abuse: First Whispers to Online Disclosure

• First Leads
  • Camila’s investigation began when a trusted friend in Abadiânia shared shocking, previously unreported first-hand accounts of rape and abuse by John of God (07:20–07:54).
  • Victims were terrified—John of God was surrounded by armed men and held deep sway over the town.
• Discovering Zahira's Story
  • The investigation’s turning point was Zahira Maus’s Facebook post, detailing rape and opening the door for international scrutiny. This occurred in the wake of #MeToo and the Harvey Weinstein case (09:47–10:32).

3. Parallel Investigations and the 'Modus Operandi'

• Cristina Phoebe’s Journalistic Path
  • Cristina, at O Globo, saw Zahira’s post shared in a feminist Facebook group and started her own inquiry, consulting fellow reporter Elena Borges (10:53–11:50).
  • Elena had previously felt unwelcome in Abadiânia, noticing efforts to control media narratives.
• Patterns of Abuse
  • Separate investigations by Camila and Cristina revealed similar survivor stories, closely matching over decades, suggesting a clear "modus operandi" (12:19–12:52).

  • “Very, very crystal clear modus operandi in the way he abused women.” — Cristina Phoebe (12:37)

4. John of God’s System of Power and Silence

• Targeting and Grooming
  • The abuser targeted vulnerable women, typically young, white, often blond, making them feel chosen and special by giving them privileged access (15:53–17:33).
  • Quote on victim selection:

    "It’s mainly white women, blonde. He loves blonde women. And young women in general..." — Cristina Phoebe (17:05)

• Control in Abadiânia
  • John of God controlled nearly every aspect of town life, from opening stores to allowing cab drivers to work. Those who crossed him were threatened, run out, or even rumored to be killed (18:24–19:01).
  • Survivors and even journalists lived in fear of “spiritual retaliation”—the belief he could harm them remotely if crossed (20:01).

5. The Journalists’ Challenges—Internal and External

• Gaining Trust
  • Camila and Cristina describe the emotionally taxing work of building trust with victims terrified of both real and spiritual consequences (19:19–20:42).
• Institutional Obstacles
  • Both journalists faced resistance from their own newsrooms, which were either afraid of John of God's power or did not prioritize the story (21:06–22:51).

    "They just didn't care..." — Cristina Phoebe (22:06)

6. Breaking Through—Getting Stories on Air

• Differences in Media

  • Camila’s show, an entertainment talk show, was not beholden to the stricter standards of news journalism—allowing for the story to be told even without police reports (24:16–24:42).

• Victims Go Public

  • The breakthrough came when Zahira agreed to show her face on TV.

    "Zahida decided to come forward, showing her face. I think this was very important for people to… see her speaking and coming forward with everything that she had." — Camila Appel (27:49)

  • American tour guide Amy Bianc contacted Camila, agreeing to appear on TV and describe walking in on an assault (28:12–29:53).

    "I saw her on her knees with Joao exposed and him pushing her head toward him. And instead of complying, she yelled and I busted in." — Amy Bianc (28:36)

• Legal Resistance

  • John of God and his lawyers tried (and failed) to legally block the broadcast (31:04-31:19).

7. The Impact

• The Tipping Point

  • The episode aired on December 7, 2018, followed swiftly by national newspaper and news coverage, sparking a media firestorm and forcing authorities to respond (31:58–32:48).
  • News clips, social media, and MeToo solidarity spread the story across Brazil and worldwide.

  • “It was a hurricane. It was really spectacular the way everything developed after that.” — Camila Appel (31:58)

• Transformational Outcome

  • The journalists credit their work and the brave women who came forward with catalyzing Brazil's MeToo movement and helping countless women recognize their own experiences as abuse (33:24–33:48).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Weight of Responsibility:

  “Each day we didn't publish for me was a day that he could be raping someone.” — Cristina Phoebe (23:26)

• On Survivors’ Fears:

  “They called it spiritual retaliation… if he's able to come here on the other side of the world and start curing me, maybe he's able to come here and harm me.” — Camila Appel (20:01)

• On the System of Control:

  "Half of town was just there to serve him. People who didn't do what John of God wanted them to do, they usually disappeared." — Cristina Phoebe (18:24)

• Personal Sacrifice:

  “I even have a small kid… my kids are trying to talk to me… because I was very obsessed with taking this story public.” — Camila Appel (05:19)

• On Impact:

  “I do think this story opened up the MeToo movement in Brazil." — Camila Appel (33:24)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• The Risks of Investigating (Camila’s anxiety, courage): 01:56–05:19
• First Whispers and Initial Evidence: 06:44–09:09
• Zahira’s Public Testimony and #MeToo Influence: 09:47–10:32
• Journalists Discovering the Pattern: 12:19–12:52
• Describing Modus Operandi and Victim Selection: 15:53–17:33
• Fear and Control in Abadiânia: 18:24–19:52
• Journalistic Resistance and Internal Obstacles: 21:06–22:51
• Breakthrough—Victims Coming Forward for TV: 27:17–29:53
• John of God Tries to Block Broadcast: 31:04–31:19
• National Impact and Aftermath: 31:58–33:24

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Summary

"Breaking the Silence" masterfully chronicles the confluence of journalistic perseverance and survivor bravery at a historic moment for Brazil. By reconstructing how a cloistered, dangerous environment of spiritual abuse was finally brought to light, the podcast lays bare the mechanisms of silence that enable abuse, the institutional inertia that must be overcome, and the power of a few voices to ignite national reckoning and social change. This episode’s depth and urgency make it essential listening for understanding the complexities—and high cost—of exposing abusers who wield faith and power as their shield.

Transcript

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$90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy see terms in this episode, we'll be talking about sexual abuse and violence, which could be triggering for some listeners. Please listen at your own discretion. December 7, 2018 that day, Camila Appel woke up feeling incredibly anxious.

[Camila Appel]

Oh, I almost had a heart attack. Because we were doing something very, very, very courageous. Very risky.

[Martina Castro]

Camila was a screenwriter on one of the most popular late night TV shows in Brazil. For months, she had been spending every waking minute on a top secret show, one that would finally air that night.

[Camila Appel]

Nobody knew what we were doing. I had come out with a nickname for this operation, which is Glauber. Glauber is a very, very famous Brazilian movie director. People thought it was a show that would be about Glauber, but actually it.

[Martina Castro]

Was an interview with a woman who said on Facebook that she had been raped by Brazil's most famous guru and healer, John of God. Camila spent two and a half months investigating those allegations and discovered many other women with similar stories. Finally, the months of waiting and digging and convincing executives to air the story would be over.

[Camila Appel]

It was a show that heard women saying they were raped and abused by a very, very influential and important man. Without law enforcement, we risked a lot.

[Martina Castro]

They hadn't gone to the police because John of God had friends in the highest of places. Any slip up could lead to a bigger cover up, or worse, it could put these women's lives in danger. Camila had credible testimonies from over a dozen women. So she and her boss, a veteran TV journalist named Pedro Bial, felt confident they had enough to go to air. They recorded the show. Then, in the days before they aired the episode, they contacted John of God.

[Camila Appel]

We came to John and said, look, we are doing it this. We need you to say whatever you want to say. How do you defend yourself? Do you want to be interviewed? We would love to interview you now.

[Martina Castro]

At first, John of God made it seem like he might talk to them on the record. But in the end, it became clear he was just making time for another move.

[Camila Appel]

He got a judge, and he was trying with the judge to stop the show of being aired, saying that we were damaging his image.

[Martina Castro]

Camila started to get scared.

[Camila Appel]

I talked to a lot, a lot of people. Guides, husbands, vicmans. I talked to a lot of people. So I was very secure of the story I had on my hand. I didn't doubt that. My fear was that me, as a lot of journalists that came before me, would not be able to put it forward, to wear it if it didn't air.

[Martina Castro]

Camila worried about what would happen to the women who talked to her.

[Camila Appel]

By the time they decided to talk to me and say, okay, we are going to give you an official interview, they were in danger because John of God already knew that I was doing that. So they were in danger. And then if the story didn't come out, they might be really in danger.

[Martina Castro]

As the network deliberated on whether to move forward with the episode, Camila also thought about everything she sacrificed for this story.

[Camila Appel]

Two months and a half, 24 hours a day. I even have a small kid at the time, and I have a lot of audios that she's crying at the back. I know because I've listened to them afterwards, and my kids are trying to talk to me, and I'm like, no, no, no. Because I was very obsessed with taking this story public. We have an expression in Portuguese which say, mojer na praia dying at the beach, you know, you swim and swim, swim to get into firm land, and then when you get there, you die at the beach and said, no, I'm swimming, I'm swimming. I don't want to stop here. I need this to come out.

[Martina Castro]

From exactly right. Media and adonde Media. This is Two Faced John of God. I'm your host, Martina Castro. Episode 4 Breaking the Silence it was a big deal when Camila landed the writer job for one of the most popular shows on Globo.

[Camila Appel]

Globo is a huge television network in Latin America. We reach out to around 100 million people a day. So it's a lot of people that we connect to. And I also write a talk show television program which is hosted by Pedro Biao. And that's how everything started, actually.

[Martina Castro]

This was in early 2018. Pedro Bial, a veteran journalist and the host of the show where Camila worked, told her that he was interested in interviewing the celebrated healer John of God. So Camila started researching him just like she would have done for any other guest.

[Camila Appel]

And the first person I decided to talk to was a very good friend of mine that actually lived in Abadiana for a while.

[Martina Castro]

Camila calls her up to get a sense of what Abadiania and the whole community there was like. But the woman starts off by telling Camila something totally unexpected.

[Camila Appel]

The first thing that she told me was that he rapes women. He's a serial abuser. That really shocked me because I had never heard anything about it before. And then I said, how do you know that?

[Martina Castro]

Despite the secrecy and risk around revealing something like this, she tells Camila that three women on separate occasions had confided in her that they were abused by him. Given how close this woman felt to Camila, she thought it was important to share this information with her.

[Camila Appel]

I said, could you please ask them if they would talk to me? And they were very, very, very reluctant, very afraid, because Joan of Goth, he used to be surrounded by men that hold guns. So she was very afraid that something could happen to her.

[Martina Castro]

But one of the women ultimately agreed to talk to Camila. Her friend assured her that Camila was trustworthy and would keep her identity secret. This woman had also kept a diary where she had written about the abuse.

[Camila Appel]

When I met her, she was with the diary on her hands and she was shaking a lot. And she said, I don't remember much. I think I decided for my own safety, mental health, to erase everything, but here's the diary. And then I read it, and it was very, very shocking. I said, whoa, this is someone completely different from the person we know. This is a monster. And she said, yes. And he wasn't doing that only to me.

[Martina Castro]

Camila ended up talking to two more women, and they shared very similar stories that had taken place many years apart.

[Camila Appel]

I mean, the first one was 20 years ago. The other one was 25 years ago. And then the third one was a month before, and the story was very similar. I said, whoa, he's a serial abuser.

[Martina Castro]

Camila took all of this back to her boss, Pedro Bial.

[Camila Appel]

I said, look, this is what I found. And then he said, go for it. Keep digging. You are on the right track.

[Martina Castro]

So Camila kept looking for other potential survivors who may want to tell their stories. And that's when a woman mentioned an allegation of rape she had recently seen online.

[Camila Appel]

One of them said, there is a post on Facebook from a Dutch woman called Zahira.

[Martina Castro]

The Facebook post, it was created by Zahida Maus, a choreographer from Holland who had been to the Casa in Abadiania several times. In her post, she describes in detail how John of God had raped her twice. It wasn't the first time someone had shared a story like this online, but this time, people were paying attention.

[Cristina Phoebe]

It was May 2018, so. So it was all the Me Too movement after Harvey Weinstein's story at New York Times, and everything had happened. So we had, like, a feel, a moment going on. And she said, yeah, me too.

[Martina Castro]

That's Christina Phoebe, the journalist we heard from in Episode two. She was working at O Globo at the time, a newspaper owned by the same media company that owned the TV network where Camila worked. When Cristina came across Sagira's Facebook post, she had no idea that at TV Global, Camila Appel was also digging into this story.

[Cristina Phoebe]

So I was part of a very small group, a feminist group on Facebook. They shared Zahira's post, telling in English everything that happened to her. And I was like, what? I was shocked. I hadn't had any tips about it, nothing. And there were comments like, see what I told you? And look. Look at this. And so I read it, and I was like, whoa. Maybe it wasn't only her.

[Martina Castro]

So Cristina called one of the investigative reporters she worked with, Elena Borges. Cristina asked Elena if she'd be willing to talk to Sajira about her allegations. It just so happens that Elena had already been to Abediania a couple of months earlier to do a magazine story about John of God. She tells Cristina that she felt very unwelcome while she was there.

[Cristina Phoebe]

She felt observed and she came back and said, it's kind of weird. They want to control what kind of story is going to get out, what I'm telling, who I'm talking to. It's kind of strange. So that was like the only info we had. And I said, elena, maybe that's why. Let's look into this. And in like 48 hours of doing that, she had six women.

[Martina Castro]

These six women all said they had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of John of God. And just like the women who separately spoke with Camida Appel, they told similar stories of abuse even though they didn't know each other and their stories were from different time periods.

[Cristina Phoebe]

We call modus operandia. I think that's an expression that we all say. It had a very clear way of doing things. Very, very crystal clear modus operandi in the way he abused women.

[Martina Castro]

Cristina says this revealed something that months later would be key to the whole case against John of God.

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[Camila Appel]

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[Martina Castro]

The women who spoke with Cristina and Camila described situations that occurred over the span of decade. Stories that followed a very similar pattern. Imagine being at the Casa in the long line of people waiting to meet John of God. There are hundreds of people around you. Some meditating and praying. Volunteers and guides are translating or treating people in the infirmary. Cristina explains how it would all go down in the middle of this very public setting.

[Cristina Phoebe]

So he always chose them when they were in line, and then when they got to him, like, they had 20 seconds to say what they wanted. That was, like, in front of everybody. And he told them, the girls he chose to see him after the main line, alone in his office, before they.

[Martina Castro]

Even set foot in the office, they were already feeling special, chosen to be one of the few people who would get alone time with John of God. And then once they were in the.

[Cristina Phoebe]

Office, you know, it was half office and half bedroom. It had, like, a big chair and books and saints and pictures of him and famous people and powerful people. So, you know, you felt intimidated because, how am I gonna tell people that he's bad? Look at all those powerful people who come here and who. Who are friends with him.

[Martina Castro]

Cristina and Camila, separately started to see a strategy behind what seemed to be a system of abuse, a system that targeted a very specific kind of person.

[Cristina Phoebe]

It's mainly white women, blonde. He loves blonde women. And young women in general. A few old women as well, but mainly on their 20s or 30s. A few of them, he also chose, like, to hold his instruments, to be beside him while he was, like, curing other people. So they felt even more chosen and special.

[Martina Castro]

And this was all by design.

[Cristina Phoebe]

A few of them were not trying to cure themselves, but trying to get pregnant. Or they had, like, a crisis in their marriage that they felt that there was, like, a spiritual crisis. So he also was, like, smart enough if I can't say that. But anyway, he was smart enough to see the vulnerability of those women.

[Martina Castro]

But what enabled the system to operate was everything surrounding it. The Journalists began to uncover a mafia like network of influence and control that John of God had in Abadiana. This network served to keep everyone, including his victims, from speaking out.

[Cristina Phoebe]

Abadiana was like a very, very small town that just had Joan of God at the center of everything. So half of town was just there to serve him. He had to give authorization for a store to open, or for a cab driver to drive and get passengers, or for a hotel to function. He had, you know, control of everything. People who didn't do what John of God wanted them to do, they usually disappeared.

[Martina Castro]

Disappeared as in run out of town, threatened, or even rumored to have died. That's why Cristina and Camila understood why it was so hard for the women to come forward. They both took extra care and time to earn their trust. Here's Camila again.

[Camila Appel]

I think it's very fair, at least I thought at the time, to really connect with them in a very genuine relationship. Because what I was asking for them was to tell a horrible story, to relieve a trauma caused by a very violent and dangerous man that wasn't in prison, that was living as a king in a city having his own house and a very rich man surrounded by bodyguards. So they were very afraid.

[Martina Castro]

Camilla says an added difficulty was that the women thought John of God was capable of punishing them for speaking out, even from afar.

[Camila Appel]

They called it spiritual retaliation. Because once you say, okay, I want to do this treatment, it's been said that John of God would visit you spiritually and would start the cure. So if he's able to come here on the other side of the world and start curing me, maybe he's able to come here and harm me. So they were very afraid to talk to me, even to tell me what happened to them. I actually had one woman, her car got stolen, and then she messaged me saying, I cannot talk to you. He made my car being stolen.

[Martina Castro]

During one of our interviews, we faced the same fear. You might remember in episode three, when we were talking to Ana Paula, the recording suddenly went out, and she immediately thought it was John of God.

[Camila Appel]

So there were a lot of challenges involving this kind of investigation.

[Martina Castro]

But their challenges weren't only external. Internally, these journalists had to convince their bosses at their separate companies that they had enough evidence to back up what these women were saying at the newspaper. Cristina confronted a lot of resistance.

[Cristina Phoebe]

It was very shocking for me because it was not a priority at all. I was talking about, like, the main Brazilian guru. He was so powerful. He was like a huge figure. I was not trying to publish a small story about the guy at my corner that was abusing, that would be hard. But it was like, we are talking about numbers, audience. If they don't mind the victims, they would mind the audience, right? But he just didn't care.

[Martina Castro]

Or Cristina started to think they just didn't understand the nature of these crimes. She remembers her editors, three women asking questions like, did they say no?

[Cristina Phoebe]

Did they, like, fight? Why did they went back there? So it was very basic. And so I felt both an incomprehension about the mechanisms of the abuse and the difficult of a victim to speak. And on the other hand, a lack of worry, like, they just don't care.

[Martina Castro]

It was also a tough time, news wise. The country was going through a tumultuous presidential election, which was taking up a lot of space and energy in the newsroom. Cristina thinks it probably got even harder after they reached out to John of God to comment on the allegations.

[Cristina Phoebe]

The first response by John of God was, well, it's all a lie. They're lying. They're trying to create facts about me, and I'm going to sue whoever publishes that. And probably it scared the newspaper because he did have judge friends, lawyer friends and everything. So it was like the start of a battle so we could publish the story.

[Martina Castro]

The longer the battle went on, the longer John of God continued to see people at the Casa.

[Cristina Phoebe]

And it was very anguishing because as we noticed that there was like a modus operandi going on and he was raping women. So each day we didn't publish for me was a day that he could be raping someone. And Elena was like the interface to the victims. So she had to explain every day to the victims what was going on, that the story wasn't running. What are they not believing in us? Which is like the worst thing for a victim.

[Martina Castro]

Meanwhile, at TV Global, Camila had an advantage over other journalists chasing down this story conversa compial. The show where she worked was considered entertainment, meaning they could skirt some of the rules that the news side had to contend with.

[Camila Appel]

If I was from the journalist show, like the national news, for instance, they would say, no, no, you cannot come out with this story if you don't have the police enforcement or if you don't have someone that is really prosecuting him and actually had won at least. But as we were from the talk show and the entertainment side of it, I think this was not an impediment, was not an obstacle.

[Martina Castro]

But even for Camila, it was going to be an uphill battle to get this segment on the air. Her determination to help these women speak out would be tested by everyone, especially by John of God himself.

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[Martina Castro]

Well, I take bathroom breaks during the game so I don't miss anything. Smart.

[Commercial Announcer]

Well, Elf Cosmetics is back this year and they decided to make a full blown absurdly funny telenovela that celebrates positivity, inclusivity and accessibility.

[Camila Appel]

That sounds amazing.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Martina Castro]

Oh, okay, I see where this is going.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Martina Castro]

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[Martina Castro]

To make the strongest show possible, Camila and her bosses had to showcase the credibility of the allegations. Of the 13 women who spoke with Camila on the record, three were willing to go on the air, but they weren't willing to show their faces. So Camila was afraid it wouldn't be enough to convince the public. Then Camila Got a lucky break. After weeks of deliberation, Zaheeda Mouse, the woman who had posted her experience of abuse on Facebook, came to a crucial decision.

[Camila Appel]

Zahida decided to come forward, showing her face. I think this was very important for people to really look at her, see her speaking and coming forward with everything that she had.

[Martina Castro]

Camilla then got her second lucky break. She found a tour guide who used to take people from the US to see John of God.

[Camila Appel]

And when I talked to her, she said she entered his office and he was raping someone from her group. I actually heard one of my tourists yelling for help inside his office and went in.

[Martina Castro]

That's the tour guide, Amy Bianc. What she's describing happened on her last visit to Abadianya in 2008.

[Camila Appel]

So I saw her on her knees with Joao exposed and him pushing her head towards him. And instead of complying, she yelled, and I busted in. And then he told me to close.

[Commercial Announcer]

My eyes and sit down, and I did.

[Martina Castro]

I can't believe I did that, because you're so indoctrinated, you know?

[Camila Appel]

But it only lasted about 30 seconds.

[Commercial Announcer]

And I got up and I said.

[Martina Castro]

Put your pants back on.

[Camila Appel]

Get up.

[Martina Castro]

We're going.

[Camila Appel]

Because I was not confused anymore. I was mad.

[Commercial Announcer]

And I knew that that was it for me.

[Martina Castro]

Amy stopped taking people to the casa after that, but she wanted to warn potential visitors without drawing too much attention to herself. So she posted a message on a blog for people interested in going to Abadiana. In it, she said, if you go, be careful and use your brains. This post was found months later by Camila, and it was enough to make her think Amy must have known something was going on. So Camila called her.

[Camila Appel]

And this woman, it took two months for her to really say, okay, I'm going to Brazil. I'm going to your talk show.

[Martina Castro]

So Amy would appear next to Zahira on Pedro Bial's primetime TV show, Conversa con Bial, both showing their faces as they told their stories to the people of Brazil. This is what the show needed to make the biggest impact.

[Camila Appel]

Because they didn't know each other. They weren't from the same group. They were not from Brazil because the Brazilians weren't feeling safe enough to show their faces. So we had two women coming from abroad, one from Holland, another one from the United States. For us to be able to really put this man down.

[Martina Castro]

Things seemed to be on the right path. But they still needed to reach out to John of God and give him a chance to respond to the allegations. They contacted him and at first he.

[Camila Appel]

Was leading us on forever. Forever. Of course I will talk to you. But wait, who did you interview? Oh, we can't tell. Of course we can't tell. But what have you got on me? We can't tell. We have this, this and that, and then we described the crimes we had. And then he didn't give us an interview.

[Martina Castro]

Instead, in the days before the show was set to air, John of God and his lawyers petitioned a judge to keep the show from being released. After some deliberation, the judge denied the petition. According to Camila, he said, no, this.

[Camila Appel]

Is freedom of speech. And so he just allowed us to air the show.

[Martina Castro]

Meanwhile, over at the newspaper O Globo, Cristina and Elena were still waiting to hear if their investigation would be published.

[Cristina Phoebe]

And it was decided that it would come out first at the TV and then on the day after at the newspaper.

[Martina Castro]

This was of course disappointing for Cristina and Elena, but the network decided the story would make the biggest splash if it came out first on the Pedro Bial Show.

[Camila Appel]

So we went out on 7th of December in 2018, and then on the next day we had the newspaper Global on it, we had the national news, we had everything on it. So because we didn't want only to scratch it, we wanted to really make an impact until the segment went out. I was scared until then. After the show was aired, all of that came out on the next days. It was a hurricane. It was really spectacular the way everything developed after that miracle worker or monster.

[Commercial Announcer]

He's known as John of God. El Curandiro Brasileno Yoao de deus a cusado de agine.

[Cristina Phoebe]

And a dozen women said the self.

[Commercial Announcer]

Styled spiritual healer had abused them at his clinic.

[Martina Castro]

In the next episode, all of the journalists hard work pays off. The country is gripped by news that John of God is potentially a serial rapist. And the legal system is forced to respond by creating a task force to investigate him.

[Camila Appel]

I do think this story opened up the MeToo movement in Brazil.

[Commercial Announcer]

Many women didn't even understand they had.

[Martina Castro]

Been abused until the press brought up the case. I had lived years and years and years of my life thinking that I.

[Camila Appel]

Had been the one person.

[Martina Castro]

Chosen to live through this. It wasn't just me. Listen to Two Faced John of God on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts there. You can also find this show en Espanol. Just look for Dos Caras Juan de Dios. Two Faced John of God is a production of exactly right media and adonde Media, hosted and written by myself, Martina Castro. Our senior producer is Mariano Pacela, reporting and fact checking by Eloisa Traiano, production assistance and research by Giovanna Romano Sanchez, sound design by Mauricio Mendoza and our mastering engineer is Martin Cruz. Original music was composed by Mariana Roman, the artwork is by Vanessa Lilac. Luciano Miranda was interpreted by Andres Cavachero and Camila R by Laura Ubate for Exactly Right Media. The executive producers are Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer with consulting producer Lily Latowig and Associate producer Jay Elias.

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[Coldwater Creek Advertiser]

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[Martina Castro]

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