The IURD says it was not "indifferent to the defendant's repentance" and withdrew its complaint and private prosecution for offences against a legal person, a decision validated by the court.

The mother of two boys who were adopted by members of the IURD, admitted in court that she lied about the "theft" of her children and that her signature had been falsified, admitting that "it is false that the IURD or any person related to it has ever stolen children".

"On the contrary, she can only thank the IURD for the good care and affection given to her children by the institution and their adoptive parents”.

Maria de Fátima, who in the reports was identified as "Clara", is the biological mother of Pedro, born in 1990, and Filipe Cardoso, born in 1993 and adopted by one of the daughters of Bishop Edir Macedo.

In her apology, Maria de Fátima guarantees that she never intended to "offend the good name and prestige" of the IURD and that she was "manipulated by the TVI journalist, Alexandra Borges, to confirm an untruthful and sensationalist story created by the journalist in favor of viewer ratings".

She adds that she only agreed to "corroborate TVI's version and to make the statements contained in the reports so she would be able to see her children again".

Maria de Fátima also acknowledged that she always knew that her children were institutionalized in a home" which was part of the social work of the church and that they were "well treated and properly monitored".

In December 2017, TVI exhibited a series of reports called "The Secret of the Gods", in which it reported that the IURD was allegedly related to the kidnapping and trafficking of children born in Portugal.

The alleged crimes occurred in the 1990s, with children being taken from a home in Lisbon, which would have fed a scheme of illegal adoptions for the benefit of church-linked families living in Brazil and the United States.