The journalist Octavio Guedes launched a book that tells stories of remarkable characters from Brazil's history, including the self-proclaimed Padre Perereca and others called "accidental heroes".
The book narrates that when the royal family landed in Rio de Janeiro, they were greeted with great festivities, decorated houses and cannons fired in celebration.
Due to the prohibition of the press in Brazil at that time, the accounts of D. João's arrival in the country would never have been known to posterity were it not for Padre Perereca's role as recorder of these events.
