Council and Context in Leonardo Boff's Ecclesiology the Rebirth of the Church Among the Poor

This study contains a broad analysis of Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff's ecclesiology and shows its roots, both in the conciliar theology in the aftermath of Vatican II, in the tradition of Franciscan spirituality, and above all in the experiences of the Basic Christian Communities. In Brazil, the Basic Christian Communities have become a popular movement and a new way of being a church. Leonardo Boff interprets this experience as a rebirth of the church among the poor, as a critique of the traditional Church and a model for renewal. The volume analyzes the conflict between Boff and the Vatican over his book Church: Charism and Power, for which the Vatican's Congregation of Faith, under the leadership of Cardinal Ratzinger, punished Boff with a year of "silencio obsequioso".