accused of sexual rape, Padrinho Paulo Roberto expanded the limits of the doctrine beyond the Amazon and abroad

• Chef of Santo Daime: Padrinho Paulo Roberto is accused of sexual rape by fraud against former followers of a Rio church
• “Violated, exploited, humiliated and charged with dark sexual energy”: says American woman who accuses Padrinho Paulo Roberto of harassment

He brought his religious knowledge from northern Brazil to Rio, where in the mid-1980s he founded the church of Céu do Mar, in São Conrado, in the southern zone. Known as the first Daimist urban church, the Rio institution has welcomed, for more than 40 years, visitors to famous artists, journalists and followers of other professions adept at the ceremonies of song, prayer, dance and rituals surrounding the consumption of Ayahuasca tea.

Considered by some followers as a “rigid and severe godfather”, he aroused fascination and devotion at the same time by welcoming and advising those who presented anxieties or other difficulties. The trained psychologist is originally from the capital Rio de Janeiro and has been developing his own method since his youth. In Daime, over the past decades, he has captivated his followers from Brazil and around the world, men and women, in search of his “blessing”. The international respect and recognition he achieved as head of the brotherhood is also due to his active participation in the legalization of the Ayahuasca drink and the use of tea for religious ceremonies in Brazil. In addition to Santo Daime, União do Vegetal (UDV) and Barquinha, among others, use this substance in the country. Outside of Brazil, Paulo Roberto became a “church multiplier” carrying the doctrine and its hymns to the United States, a destination frequently visited by Daimists, as well as to Canada and Mexico. He usually says in sessions that Japan and the Middle East also have followers of the doctrine.

He is the author of the hymn “Luz na Escuridão”, considered by many followers to be one of the most “beautiful and profound” sets of odes created, among all the other godfathers.

Just as she attracted hundreds of followers and quickly created a following, she also gathered enemies, members who left the Church because they disagreed with some of Paulo Roberto’s conduct.

Vice-president of the Church of Céu do Mar between the years 1985 and the 1990s, consultant Paulo Coutinho said he witnessed situations in which Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza approached women with “advances” that occurred “in a veiled manner”, in which the religious leader left the place of ceremonies with the women towards the bedroom.

Many attacks were consensual. The way he approached fragile women, usually with abuse trauma or even a diagnosis of psychiatric illness, was repeated. Thanks to his recognition as a spiritual leader who, in fact, strengthened the emotions of his followers, the psychologist and religious leader has gained the trust of dozens of families in Rio de Janeiro over the years. A resident of the city, from whom O GLOBO received a statement, says that her father, a successful businessman in the 80s and 90s, seeking help for his daughter suffering from schizophrenia, asked Paulo Roberto to “cure” her with his therapies.

— I remember a time when my sister was upset because her son’s father had disappeared. My father called Paulo Roberto to do therapy with her. My mother took her son and went down to Rua do Riachuelo (in Lapa) while Paulo went up for therapy. I spent an hour, an hour and a half in the apartment with her. One day, after one of these sessions, she had a seizure and said she had been raped by Paulo, said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

Other family members claim that the woman accompanied by Paulo Roberto even asked for help and wrote with a screwdriver on the wall that she had been mistreated.

While behind four walls the leader took advantage of emotional, even psychiatric, weaknesses during his work in the Church, he remained welcoming, assertive or authoritarian at the same time. Business opportunities involving powerful investors were also heavily considered.

The aggregative style and ability to lead his flock inevitably became known throughout the world. Over the years, artists and acquaintances with the power to amplify their work have collaborated to promote it nationally and internationally. For his spiritual work abroad, in centers in the United States for example, Paulo Roberto received up to half a million reais. Even followers who requested individualized spiritual work paid high sums. A man who had open professional and spiritual paths paid Padrinho R$100,000 in exchange for his success.

With a lawyer who accompanied him or with the vice president who followed him for almost ten years, Paulo Roberto sometimes made economic comments about the women who interested him periodically. Young fans in need of listening caught his attention. One of the techniques to gain trust was to ask questions about their major traumas.

When traveling abroad, women met with the leader in rooms separate from those of members of his entourage. There he spent the night. Paulo Coutinho, former vice-president, points out that the fascination that the former partner aroused in people amplified his power.

—The harassment of women was something that bothered me deeply. And he did it several times. How could he be this leader of a Christian community, of people who were there giving themselves to Christ, and at the same time… An acceptance of sex without limits. He carried within him the germ of the destruction of the community that we had agreed to do – he said.

Isabela Lima, Paulo Coutinho’s ex-wife, was for several years a representative of the women’s wing of Céu do Mar. She says that women came to see her to report discomfort. When Raimunda Nonata, Padrinho’s wife, discovered some involvement or realized that something beyond “therapies” was happening, she invaded the sessions and kicked out the regulars.

Devoted followers and other visitors who were suspicious of the Godfather’s intentions soon ignored this misbehavior; Many of them considered that his behavior could be a reflection of his age and the machismo typical of his generation. The acquired power also brought a certain feeling of impunity, as Paulo Coutinho explains:

— He wasn’t worried about whether the person was going to report him. Never had this problem. He did it and he paid for it. Like when we worked in the United States and he always “took a woman from the community” for himself. It was constant, in front of me and in front of everyone. People have become, like us, goats. The situations I witnessed happened after work. He dishonors the Daime, he concludes.

Since the first accusations made by Jéssica began, Paulo Roberto avoided attending the sessions at Céu do Mar. The report even organized a meeting with his defense to clarify the accusations, but Paulo Roberto claimed that he was not feeling well due to back pain and could not attend. The defense denies the accusations.

Those close to him said the chief had introduced himself to the elders of the house several times and was “very sad about the whole situation.” Since then, he has not carried out any further work. Some said he went to Céu do Mapiá. The investigation itself had difficulty naming it.