The Rev Nilton Giese, a Lutheran pastor from Brazil, has been named as the new general secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), the leading inter-church body in the region.

Churches in Brazil have backed a provision in the newly-passed Bolivian constitution describing water as a "fundamental human right" that may not be controlled by private companies.

The ecological destruction of the Amazon region poses a serious threat to the planet, former Brazilian environmental minister Marina Silva has warned as the World Social Forum begins.

Witnesses for creative peacemaking from member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Burundi, Brazil, Greece and the United States will travel to Germany, 27 June - 4 July, to exchange experiences in overcoming violence.

Backed by Catholic aid agency CAFOD, two indigenous indians from Brazil have arrived in London this week to make an urgent plea to members of parliament for help to save their Amazon forest home.

Two church communions from opposite sides of the globe were welcomed into full fellowship of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Wednesday, increasing the membership of the global Christian body, the largest of its kind, to 349.

Strong economic growth and the recent decrease in numbers of people contracting HIV point strongly toward its development as a nation. However, with 22% of its 176.3 million strong population still living below the poverty line, welfare is still a massive issue in Brazil. You can sponsor a child in Brazil here

A member of a leading workers' rights organisation in Brazil, partnered by Christian Aid and other aid agencies, has been shot dead at point-blank range after fighting broke out during the occupation of a genetically modified crops testing site.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to ratify an international convention to protect tribal ownership of land. He was presented with a letter by the president of a Brazil partner to the Catholic Aid Agency CAFOD, urging him to take action.

A wealthy Brazilian rancher has been convicted of ordering the killing high-profile supporter of landless people Sr Dorothy Stang in 2005. But the Pope's silence has disappointed her family and social justice activists.