Catholic church and the pastoral and missionary experimentations in the 1960s: the Gioventù Studentesca experiment in Brazil.

Resumo The acknowledging of the crisis of the catholic religion in Europe during the post-1945 period, and the conviction of the pontifices and of the episcopal hierarchy that this phenomenon could be stalled or reversed, is the trigger to invest in innovative pastoral projects and in experimental missionary initiatives. Following the enthusiasm resulting from the announcement of the Second Vatican Council, in 1959, pioneer experiences gained distinction and international projection. In this regard, the present article proposes to discuss the missionary experiences of the Italian organization Gioventù Studentesca (GS), in the city of Belo Horizonte in the 1960s, and to understand the effects that the betting on experimental initiatives had on the redefinition of the traditional notion of the mission and on what refers to the affirmation of a new vision regarding the participation of lay people in church affairs.