Abstract
The mobilization of grassroots Catholic groups (base communities) in the Amazon region of Brazil provides a clear illustration of the influence of religion on social activism. This mobilization has emerged in response to land conflicts and environmental problems that have resulted from the policies of the military government that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. The Roman Catholic Church has responded on both the grassroots and institutional levels to these problems, but not always in a consistent manner. The two case studies presented in this paper show the relationship between base communities and rural activism as affected in different ways by patterns of ecclesiastical authority. The first example illustrates how inconsistencies in support from the Church hampered the effective mobilization of small farmers to resist the loss of their land to an aluminium refinery. The residents of the one rural village that successfully resisted expulsion from the land are suffering from the effects of air and water pollution caused by the aluminium plant and the threat of future health problems because of the proximity of the company's toxic waste dump. The second example presents a more positive outcome. It shows how a Church-supported organization of small farmers in the region of the Transamazonic Highway empowered its members to defend their land rights, to obtain schools and medical services, and to develop their own plans for sustainable agriculture.