Historian José Eduardo Franco presented the book 'Envy is the Vice of Portugal', recovering the diagnoses of Father António Vieira (1608-1697) on the atavistic vices that prevent Portugal's progress. In an interview with the Ecclesia Programme, broadcast on RTP2, the researcher stated that envy remains a national blockage, emphasizing that whoever tries to accomplish great works is immediately 'smothered by the shadows of envy', according to the perspective of the 17th-century Jesuit.
José Eduardo Franco distinguished 'bad envy', which aims to bring down and prevent someone's progress, from 'good envy', in which the individual takes the other as a model to do equal or better work, without fighting them. The historian argued that the transformation of bad envy into good envy could constitute an engine of progress for the country.
Father António Vieira's reflections were deepened during his stay in Rome between 1669 and 1675, resulting from opposition to his projects for reforming the country, which included the reform of the Inquisition, the end of the distinction between Old Christians and New Christians, and the freedom of the Indians in Brazil. These ideas encountered the 'immobilism' of inquisitorial sectors and others who wished to keep a Portugal in the traditional way.
The work also addresses the utopia of the Fifth Empire, described as a proposal for 'global citizenship' where all peoples are considered brothers worthy of respect and integration. José Eduardo Franco classified the Jesuit as 'one of the first utopians who constructs an inclusivist utopia', differentiating him from 'exclusivist' models such as those of Thomas More or Tommaso Campanella. The book has a preface by historian Rui Tavares and recovers the speeches given at the tribute by the Assembly of the Republic to Vieira in 1997, on the 300th anniversary of his death.
