Mediatisation and dispute in the Vatican:

“new authority” in opposition to half a century of “aggiornamento”

Abstract

This paper discusses the emergence of new authorities stemming from the process of mediatisation of Catholicism, a predominant religion with a strong influence in Brazil. The starting point is the recognition, on the part of the Catholic Church, of the importance to adopt tools and strategies consolidated by the media system to carry out its evangelizing function. This same process, however, also motivates the organization of movements that oppose the updates promoted since the pontificate of Pope Paulo VI. This is the case of the blog fratresinunum.com, which uses digital communication technologies and adopts language typical of media outlets to congregate conservatives faithful and attack the reforms implemented by Pope Francisco. In addition to documentary and bibliographic research, this work employs Discursive Textual Analysis strategies to highlight the meaning of the blog's argument.