Introduction / José Oscar Beozzo, Luiz Carlos Susin -- The formation of the Brazilian people / Luiz Eduardo W. Wanderley -- New Age: an errant religious culture in Brazil today / Leila Amaral -- Fifty years of the CNBB: a bishops' conference based on the council: evangelization projects; political and ecclesiastical tensions and challenges / Cardinal Aloísio Lorscheider -- The origins of Medellin: from Catholic action to the base church communities and social pastoral strategies (1950-68) / Luiz Alberto Gómez de Souza -- Stories of faith and life in the base communities / Faustino Teixeira -- The struggle for modern and ancestral rights: thirty years of the Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) / Paulo Suess -- The struggle for a just land policy / Tomás Balduino -- Pastoral strategy in the Brazilian mega-cities / João Batista Libânio -- Shifts in theology: socio-ecclesiastical changes: recent developments in theology in Brazil / Carlos Palacio -- The contribution of Brazilian ecclesiology to the universal church / Leonardo Boff -- The globalization of continental challenges: a call from Brazil on understanding the Christian faith / Agenor Brighenti -- Pentecostal flames in contemporary Brazil / Brenda Maribel Carranza Dávila -- Women in the Brazilian church / Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer -- Afro-Brazilians and the church: open wounds, scars, and hopes / Afonso Maria Ligorio Soares -- Church and politics in Brazil today / Francisco Whitaker Ferreira -- Open letter to the soul of Brazil / Pedro Casaldáliga -- Documentation: '...and the earth was without form and void': a brief account of a solidarity visit to Palestine / Paulo Suess.