The Impact of the Pandemic on the Conception of Poverty, Discourse, and Praxis of Christian Religious Communities in Brazil from the Perspective of Their Local Leaders

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine whether the global crisis established by the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the conception and praxis of church and/or local community leaders in relation to poverty. The research, carried out through informal, online consultations still in progress, revealed indicative trends in the discourses of 83 Christian leaders of local communities in various Brazilian states that influence, guide, and reflect the practice of the faithful in their communities. The main motivations which the leaders emphasized when mobilizing people to care for the poor were sought and what kinds of concrete actions the churches or Christian communities have carried out under the influence of these leaders in the face of the emergency situation. Initial results showed that the impact of the pandemic generated emergency assistance mobilizations for the poor, conducted institutionally, primarily in local communities; analyzed in the light of the Weberian categories of social action, the motivations endorsed by the leaders for these mobilizations revealed that rationality has given way to tradition and emotion when dealing with a social emergency. Finally, we found that while the social criticism present in the discourses of these leaders identifies economic inequality in the structures of society and emphasizes the need for action by religious institutions, they are nonetheless still minimal in terms of alternatives for a broader mobilization that would bring about transformations in the social structures of inequality in the country.