Description:
This book represents a major contribution to the understanding of the Catholic Church in the Third World. The focus is Brazil, but the issues touch the Church universally, providing it with a new and, to date, inadequately understood ecclesiological and missiological model. The author brings to this task not only his considerable skills as a social scientist and theologian, but also his many years of varied experience as a principal actor in the Brazilian church, not only as a Jesuit provincial superior, but also as President and Executive Director of the nationwide Conference of Religious of Brazil. His book thus combines both theory and praxis.


CONTENTS:

Abbreviations......IX
Foreword to the English Edition......XI
Acknowledgments......XIII

Introduction......1

I. Basic Ecclesial Communities as a Topic Today......1
II. Methodological Choices......6
III. Why focus on brazilian BECs?......8
IV. General Plan of this book......15

1. Basic Ecclesial Communities in Brazil: Origins and Process of Historical Formation......23

I. Two Emphases in the Historical Approach......23
II. Formative Process: Multidimensional Convergence......25
III. Historical Situation and Context: Nation and Church......28
IV. The Rise of BECs in Brazil......35
V. A Critique of Thomas C. Bruneau’s Position......39

2. Basic Ecclesial Community in Brazil: A Close Look at the Meaning of the Words......57

I. Comunidade (‘Community’)......59
II. Eclesial (‘Ecclesial’)......66
III. De Base (‘Basic’, ‘Base-Level’, ‘Of the Base’)......74
IV. Problems posed to deeper understanding......80

3. Basic Ecclesial Communities: Mediation Locales of Evangelization......119

I. Earlier Models and the BEC Approach......119
II. The Broader Challenge of Evangelization in Brasil......137

4. Basic Ecclesial Communities: Ecclesiological Dimensions......177

I. The Historical Context behind Ecclesiological Reflection on BECs......178
II. Church-Theology-BECs......194
III. BECs: Meeting Point of Ecclesiological Intuitions and Approaches......208

General Conclusion......245
Afterword to the English Edition......251
Appendix: Pope John Paul II’s Letter to the Brazilian Episcopal Conference......257
Bibliographical References......269
Index......295