Base Ecumenism

Latin American Contributions to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology

Raimundo C. Barreto

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781506430140
• eBook ISBN: 9781506430157
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

In this book, Raimundo Barreto examines ecumenical initiatives that have emerged from the people--from "the bases"--in conversation with interchurch ecumenical work. Revisiting grassroots developments in Latin America, such as the Church and Society movement of the 1950s and the Base Christian Communities of the 1970s, this book expands the concept of base ecumenism by engaging independent and Pentecostal communities in a religiously pluralistic Latin America. Barreto compares base ecumenism with similar initiatives in the history of the modern ecumenical movement, arguing that base ecumenism contributes fresh and renewing insights to this era of world Christianity. Paying special attention to the Popular Reading of the Bible movement, Barreto highlights the agency of women, racially minoritized groups, and young people.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Shapers of Ecumenical Theology Series
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• 1. A Changing Ecumenism
• 2. The Rise of Latin American Ecumenism
• 3. The Shortcomings of the Liberal Project and the Rise of the Third World
• 4. The Rise of Liberation Christianity among Latin American Protestants
• 5. Toward a World-Oriented Ecumenism
• 6. Catholic Action and the Roots of Base Ecumenism
• 7. Vatican II and the Birth of the Church of the Poor
• 8. CEBs, Medellin, and the Dawn of Liberation Theology
• 9. The Rise of Base Ecumenism
• 10. The Global Impact of Base Ecumenism
• 11. The Globalization of the Third World Project and the Ecumenical Movement
• 12. For an Oikoumenē in Which Many Worlds Coexist
• Bibliography
• Index