o whom does the term “Catholic” belong? Law and media as arenas and strategies of neoconservatism

Abstract

The article analyzes how Brazilian neoconservatism works through a case study: the lawsuit brought by the Catholic lay association Centro Dom Bosco de Fé 18 Plural 28.1 Maria José Rosado Nunes, Olívia Bandeira, Gisele Cristina Pereira e Cultura (CDB) against the Catholics for the Right to Decide (CDD). The goal of the action is to remove the term “catholic” from the corporate name of the CDD, arguing that CDD’s defense of sexual and reproductive rights would be in disagreement with the fundamentals of Catholicism. Two dimensions of neoconservatism are discussed: the reactive juridification and its dissemination through the media and social networks (economy of performance). The data used are documents of the judicial process, initiated in 2018, and the historical repercussion of the court decision in favor of the CDB published in the social networks of the entities and in the media, in October and November 2020. The article concludes that the lawsuit is part of a broader context of attacks on human rights and democracy itself and reveals the disputes within Catholicism. It also concludes that, although the performance of Catholicism has contributed to the maintenance of conservative structures along Brazilian history, there are elements that differentiate the contemporary political- religious performance in the field of Catholicism.