SAO PAULO —São Paulo Archbishop Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer has ordered the Rev. Julio Lancellotti, one of Brazil’s best-known Catholic voices for people living on the streets, to stop livestreaming Mass and halt all social media posting, the priest said Tuesday. The directive followed a fresh wave of criticism from right-wing politicians who argue Julio Lancellotti’s work has become partisan, a claim he denies, Dec. 16, 2025.
Julio Lancellotti, 76, built a national audience by documenting his parish’s outreach to homeless people and by broadcasting services from São Miguel Arcanjo Church in the Mooca neighborhood, where he has served for decades. He has roughly 2.3 million followers on Instagram, according to an Associated Press report describing the order.
Speaking to journalists, Julio Lancellotti said he received the decision “in a spirit of obedience and resilience.” The archdiocese, meanwhile, said any issues discussed between the archbishop and a priest would be handled directly and treated as an internal church matter, a position also reported by CNN Brasil.
Agência Brasil reported that the last livestream took place Sunday and that Julio Lancellotti said the parish would continue holding Mass in person each week at 10 a.m. The priest also rejected a rumor circulating in Catholic WhatsApp groups that he was being transferred away from the parish after about 40 years.
Supporters moved quickly. More than 40 organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness urged Scherer to reconsider, and they called on volunteers to attend the next Sunday service — scheduled for Dec. 21 — as a show of solidarity. Politicians on the left criticized the decision and some Brazilian outlets reported the archdiocese ordered a financial audit at the parish, according to ACI Digital.
Why Julio Lancellotti’s digital silence has become a flashpoint
The fight over Julio Lancellotti’s online presence reflects a broader clash in Brazil: who gets to define “charity” in an era when social media turns local ministry into national politics. Critics aligned with former President Jair Bolsonaro have accused Julio Lancellotti of enabling drug users in the city’s downtown drug scene and of turning church-backed aid into political messaging. Julio Lancellotti says his street ministry is a pastoral duty of the archdiocese — and that he does not work for a nonprofit or political organization.
His profile — and the attacks — long predate this week’s order. During the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters quoted Julio Lancellotti warning that people sleeping outdoors had little access to soap, water or hand sanitizer. In 2021, he went viral after using a sledgehammer to tear out anti-homeless rocks and spikes installed under a bridge, a scene detailed in a Crux report that helped popularize debate over so-called hostile architecture.
The political pressure also intensified as Brazil’s polarization deepened. In early 2024, a right-wing push at São Paulo’s city council to open an investigation into his outreach efforts drew a public defense from religious and government figures, according to WLRN.
For now, the archbishop’s directive means the audience that followed Julio Lancellotti online — including homebound Catholics, people working weekends and supporters outside the city — has lost access to broadcasts that began during the pandemic and turned a neighborhood parish into a digital gathering place. Whether the silence is temporary “protection,” as some allies argue, or a warning shot in Brazil’s culture wars, Julio Lancellotti is expected to remain in the pulpit and on the streets, with supporters planning to pack the pews Sunday.
