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Ivan Vieira de Paula (photo), who became Spiritist 35 years ago, lives in his hometown of Itapetininga, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. He took part in an important charity programme with leprosy, of Hansen Disease, sufferers in the 1980s in the city of Itu. Thirty-three years ago he began broadcasting a radio programme, “The Third Millennium,” which still goes on air every Sunday. He founded the Dr Bezerra de Menezes Spiritist Centre in 1998 and in 2009 created a programme for Itapê TV station, called Universo do Bem, of Good Universe. It is a non-religious programme that focuses on positive news and messages, as he explains in the following interview:
How did you come up with the idea of this programme?
It came as the result of my reflexions, inspired by many years of studies of Spiritism, which teaches the importance of optimism in our lives. The Spiritual Benefactors have told us that there’s never been so much love on the planet. My personal experience, visiting many families from all social backgrounds, showed the importance of taking to them positive messages – the consoling words of the Spiritist Teachings. That would help alleviate their suffering.
How exactly did those visits influence your proposal?
I realised during those visits to offer counselling that in many cases the pain and suffering people were going through were inflated by the widespread dissemination of news about crimes, tragedies, war or awful accidents. All that encourages despair and pessimism at a large scale. So I had the idea to disseminate, instead, positive news, to look for testimonials of people who were willing to share with others the good developments in their lives. I intended to show videos that could touch people’s hearts, with a comforting and educational message. But it was important that those messages were of an ecumenical nature, so they could reach all the viewers of the TVI community channel.
How did you come up with the title for the programme?
It came out of nowhere. But as I don’t believe that anything happens by chance, I will say that it came at the right moment. I was talking to the channel’s directors and was explaining the idea for the programme. I suggested calling it Jornal do Bem, or Good News. They liked the general idea and gave me some guidance on how to present it etc. but they didn’t like the title. So, all of a sudden I came up with a different one: Universo do Bem, or Good Universe. After all, we have Sports Universe, Science Universe, why not Good Universe. They approved it straight away.
What’s been the impact of the programme since it began, more than 10 years ago?
We broadcast more than 200 editions of the programme between 2009 and 2013. It went on air for about 30 minutes every Tuesday and it was repeated on the other days of the week. The programme was discontinued for a few years, but began being broadcast again in 2018. I started to realise how big it had become when people I’d never seen stared at me in public places like supermarkets, petrol stations, bank branches etc. They eventually approached me and said they watched and liked the programme. My friends also began to phone me to say they were happy to have a TV programme that was worth watching. They all understood the idea behind it, that it wasn’t a religious programme.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would like to thank Spiritism for teaching me that we don’t need to try to convert anyone or try to persuade them to accept the Teachings codified by Allan Kardec. We need, instead, to invite all of them to help, as much as they can, other people. And we need to lead by example. “Without charity there is no salvation.” That is, after all, the motto of Spiritism.
I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you the website where you can watch the programmes: www.tvitape.com.br. You can also watch on YouTube: tvitape2. Or simply search “Universo do Bem” online and you will find many of our older transmissions.
Editor’s Note:
Click here - https://www.youtube.com – to watch the programme that went on air on March 6th, 2020. |
