With 130 million inhabitants, Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world. In 1985, the country returned to civilian rule after more than twenty years of military dictatorship. It was a moment of change that reached into all institutions.

Traditionally, a supporter of order and property, the Catholic Church in Brazil had already changed radically in the years of dictatorship, when it was of the few spaces for opposition movements to find shelter. This is the time period that also saw the formation of the first "Christian Base Communities."

CHURCH OF LIBERATION looks at how the transformation of the Church took place and at what its "opting for the poor" meant for different sectors of Brazilian society.

With political parties, trade unions, and other associations functioning again, the Church is now under pressure to redefine its role, this time in the face of criticism from the Vatican. A major, if silent, figure in this film is Fr. Leonardo Boff, the leading Brazilian theologian of Liberation Theology, sentenced to one year of silence by the Vatican for his radical teachings.

CHURCH OF LIBERATION is a film about the "Popular Church," Liberation Theology, as well as an informative documentary about the recent history of Brazil.