The Holy Spirit is the "great unknown" of Western Theology and one of the great rediscoveries of liberation theology. Few books, however, have yet given it the attention and analysis it deserves. This volume remedies this defect, and in a fresh and challenging way.

Speaking from his own experiences living among the very poor in North- eastern Brazil, Comblin examines the effects of the presence of the Spirit in the world and the church. In the world it is present whenever the poor act on their own initiative, the weak organise, the unlettered speak out, the down-trodden discover new ways of living in community: all characteristics of the new base communities of Latin America. In the liberation struggle, experience of God is experience of the Spirit; the Spirit lies at the root of the cry of the poor.