STRUCTURAL OBSTACLES TO GRASS-ROOTS PASTORAL PRACTICE - THE CASE OF ABASE COMMUNITY IN URBAN BRAZIL

Base Christian Communities (CEBs) represented a key element in progres sive Catholicism in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where they a ttained a high level of development. This article examines the evoluti on of a CEB in the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, exploring the obstacle s to the production, circulation, and reception of the progressive Cat holic message. While tensions and contradictions within the CEB contri buted to its decline, they had deleterious effects only when they were conditioned by external processes such as the Vatican restoration and the economic crisis Brazil faced beginning in the mid-1980s. These ma cro processes exacerbated tensions between the pastoral agent and lay people and among different lay factions. They also disempowered the co re of activists in the CEB. The paper concludes by challenging recent readings qi the 'crisis' of Brazilian CEBs and by arguing for the need to place local religious dynamics In their proper institutional and s tructural context.