Latin American theologian to visit UK
-3/01/05
Brazilian Liberation theologian, Fr JosÈ Oscar Beozzo will tour UK parishes in February and March to give talks on the importance of faith communities in tackling world poverty, reports the Independent Catholic news.
With over 20 years experience of promoting lay leadership in parts of Brazil where there are few priests, Fr Beozzo will use his wealth of knowledge to engage those in the parishes to use their faith commitment to demand social justice for the world’s poorest countries.
As Director of CESEP (Ecumenical Centre Services for Evangelisation and Popular Education), he was a pioneer in strengthening the relationship between the Catholic Church and the poor by training leaders in grassroots social movements and basic communities.
Fr Beozzo also played a key role in setting up CESEP training programmes for lay people following the emergence of the Latin American military dictatorships in the 1960s and 70s. During this difficult period, he helped church activists and supported those who moved into positions of political influence such as councillors, trade union leaders and community organisers.
Susy Brouard, CAFOD’s Justice Spirituality Facilitator said: “We are pleased to have someone of excellent standing within the Church to talk to our supporters. Fr Beozzo will give talks on his work in Brazil, currents trends in theology and the connection between faith and justice, using CAFOD’s current campaign of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY as his baseline. We feel that his experience is of huge relevance to UK parishioners here who wish to contribute to the process of building social justice from a faith perspective.”
Until last year, Fr JosÈ Oscar Beozzo was Professor at the Theology Faculty of the Pontifical Catholic University in Sau Paulo, Brazil. In January, he helped organise the World Forum on Theology and Liberation which took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Fr Beozzo will be spending three weeks in England and giving talks in London, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Lancaster and Liverpool.