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The Sabbat does much to earn its reputation as a
bloodthirsty sect of fanatical vampire supremacists,
but the actual philosophy of the sect is much more
sophisticated. The sect has a long history of associa-
tion with Catholic rite and culture, and one of the
great philosophical centers of the Black Hand is São
Paulo, in particular the São Paulo See Metropolitan
Cathedral. The church itself is a symbol of the city,
and few of the 40 million mortal inhabitants of the
city realize that such an important Cainite institution
exists beneath their home. Second only to the seat of
the Regent in Mexico City, São Paulo is emerging as
the spiritual center of the sect.

An ecumenical council for the Black Hand meets
annually in the crypts beneath the Catedral da Sé,
where it observes and codifies all of the Sabbat’s ''auc-
toritas ritae.'' Archbishops, Bishops, Prisci, and other
leaders of the sect attend this council by invitation
only, and being asked to attend is both an enormous
sect honor and a chance to shape the Black Hand’s
religious policy.The Archbishop of São Paulo also
hosts numerous deliberative diets, where Bishops and
luminary Pack Priests can share and propose new ''ritae''
as well as study and debate matters directly related to
Sabbat theology. These diets host no small amount
of discussion regarding the Paths of Enlightenment in
addition to codified sacrament.

The presence of such an important religious insti-
tution for the Sabbat rankles some of the Old World
elders of the sect, who believe that the Black Hand’s
religious center should remain closer to the Vatican,
or at least in Europe as the historical stronghold of
Catholicism. This issue has yet to truly form a divide
among the spiritual leaders of the Black Hand, but
as sect outlook grows more dire and the End Times
loom, the potential for a full-fledged schism among the
priests of the sect becomes an increasing possibility.