IMAGETICS PROFILES OF THE BRAZILIAN CATHOLIC CLERGY: Competition, Commodification, and Mediatization
Keywords:
Catholic clergy, mediatization, imagetics, digital capitalism, religious authority, BrazilAbstract
How are Catholic clerical discourses configured within contemporary digital networks? This study is grounded in the hypothesis that, within the context of digital capitalism and algorithmic logics, the online religious activity of Catholic priests expands their visibility while simultaneously shaping and intensifying longstanding disputes among different sectors of the Church, particularly between conservative and non-conservative currents. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining partial bibliographic review with the systematic observation of six clerical Instagram profiles over a period of one year and four months, from September 2024 to January/March 2026. The findings indicate the existence of three major typological configurations: the charismatic-celebrity type, characterized by spectacularization and by logics of symbolic production and consumption; the conservative-doctrinal-catechetical type, oriented toward dogmatic reaffirmation, the reinforcement of hierarchical authority, the maintenance of sectarian virtual communities, and the commercialization of formative content; and the socio-evangelical type, guided by the praxis of social justice and by community-pastoral mobilization within public and political spaces. The study demonstrates the emergence of a Catholic socio-digital universe shaped by the dynamics of commodification, the construction of digital personae, prosumer culture (prosumption), and ongoing symbolic, political, and communicative struggles. It concludes that clerical presence in this environment is configured as a public-digital performance structured around three principal modes of engagement: the celebrity-performer, the doctrinal-dogmatic militant, and the social-pastoral actor.
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