Brazil's 'faith-based' communities

Regarding the article "On Brazil's Front Line, Priest Says Liberation Theology Is Still Basic to Helping the Poor," Oct. 11: The ecclesiastical base communities are not, as the author asserts, "neighborhoods organized around leftist political beliefs." These are faith-based communities where people gather around the Word, reading the Gospel in light of their daily lives and reading social reality in light of the Gospel.This cross-fertilization of faith in a God of life and the lived reality of misery and oppression leads these communities to take up action on behalf of life: literacy programs, community day care, union organizing, and supporting local political parties. Mev Puleo, Berkeley, Calif. Letters are welcome. Only a selection can be published, subject to condensation, and none acknowledged. Please address them to "Readers Write," One Norway St., Boston, MA 02115.