Alone and Naked: Reading the Torture of Jesus alongside the Torture of Miriam Leitão

Abstract

Recent biblical scholarship has called for more careful and detailed attention to the experiences of torture victims to better understand the crucifixion of Jesus (Menéndez-Antuña 2022). To this end, this article examines the torture of Miriam Leitão, one of Brazil’s most prominent journalists. Leitão’s torture in 1972 is attested in the report Brasil: Nunca Mais (1985), compiled by the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, which records that she was left in a dark room with a boa constrictor. In 2014 Leitão disclosed in an interview that during her time with the snake she was naked. I argue Leitão’s account of being ‘alone and naked’ offers insights into the repeated stripping of Jesus in the praetorium in Matthew 27:26–31, and his forced nudity on the cross. Recognising crucifixion as torture helps towards understanding and naming the mocking of Jesus as sexual abuse.