The article presents an interpretation of the changes that have occurred within the Catholic movement linked to Liberation Theology. A comparison is made of the decades of 1970-1980 and 1990-2000, using the theories of A. Gramsci and M. Löwy, and the theological approaches found primarily in the works of L. Boff and P. Richard. Empirically the text focuses the Catholic youth pastoral groups and the literature produced for training and evangelizing young people. Significant changes can be observed in the works of liberation theologians and in the practices of young people linked to the pastoral groups with a relation of mutual influence identifiable between these two complementary universes among the new practices of the progressive sectors of the Catholic Church in Brazil.
Sociology of religion; Catholic church; Liberation Theology; Youth pastoral groups; Working for the poor