ABSTRACT
It is investigated the renewal process of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of
Limoeiro do Norte in the second half of the 20th century. It is sought to
understand how its pastoral action took place within the conjuncture of the
renewed Church, i.e., the strategies used to disseminate and put into practice
the guidelines established in the Second Vatican Council (1962 -1965) and the
Second and Third CELAM Conferences (1969 and 1978, respectively). In order
to answer these questions, it is analyzed documents from the collection of the
Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte file, among them, the radio announcements of the
program "A Diocese Informa", the pastoral plans of the bishopric of Don Falcão
and Don Pompeu, and the latter's pastoral letter, in order to verify the discourse
and practice of the Diocese regarding the renewed Church. Also it is used the
oral history methodology, verifying at how the work performed by a laywoman
and a religious one in the process of renewal of the diocesan Church appears in
their memories, allowing a more comprehensive view of the phenomenon. It
was identified a pastoral action to instigate the laity to assume the "Christian"
status, living their faith as a social commitment, in a process aimed at "human
promotion". It was concluded that, despite of the variety of actors, practices,
representations and appropriations present in the Diocese pastoral action, a
new profile of church was built.
Keywords: Renewed Church. Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte. Pastoral action.
Religious people. Lay people.
