Centro Dom Bosco

The Associação Centro Dom Bosco de Fé e Cultura is a lay Catholic association founded in Rio de Janeiro on 17 September 2016, with the motto "Rezar, estudar e defender a fé" ("Pray, study and defend the faith") (Wikipédia). Its YouTube channel addresses Catholic doctrine from what English Wikipedia calls a pre–Second Vatican Council perspective (Wikipedia). Portuguese Wikipedia places it within Catholic ultraconservatism, associating it with traditionalist positions, criticism of Vatican II and promotion of the Tridentine Mass, and notes that it has no institutional link to the Church hierarchy. Academic studies have examined it, including a Unifesp study of how "New Right" movements shaped its thought and an article on its course Catecismo da Crise da Igreja and its condemnation of religious liberty (Unifesp; UFMA).

Porta dos Fundos lawsuit. The association brought a public civil action against the comedy group Porta dos Fundos and Netflix over the Christmas special A Primeira Tentação de Cristo, seeking R$2 million in damages (Jusbrasil). In January 2020 a Rio appellate judge ordered the special removed from Netflix; Supreme Federal Court minister Dias Toffoli suspended that order, and a Rio trial court later rejected the association's claims (NBC News; Juristas).

Break with the archdiocese. In mid-2025 the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro advised Catholics not to take part in the association's events after it announced that, at a national forum planned for August 2025, it would for the first time publicly place itself under the spiritual direction of the Society of Saint Pius X. In a published clarification, the archdiocese said the association has no ecclesial link or recognition in Rio and that its statutes had never been submitted to local Church authorities, so it is a civil association without canonical status (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro; ACI Digital). Writing for the Instituto Humanitas Unisinos (IHU), Tabata Tesser compared it to a devotional "Brasil Paralelo" contesting the legitimate interpretation of the Catholic faith on social media and in the courts (IHU). In July 2026 the Holy See declared the SSPX to be in schism (see SSPX consecrations of 2026).