The Archdiocese of São Paulo is a Latin Metropolitan Archbishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil. The Archdiocese is currently headed by Odilo Scherer since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 March 2007, an appointment that ended almost four decades of Franciscan leadership in the archdiocese: both predecessors, Cardinals Paulo Evaristo Arns and Cláudio Hummes, belonged to that Order.