In a forthright style that has earned him a reputation for controversy, theologian Gregory Baum presents the new Faith and Justice movement in the churches especially the Roman Catholic Church - together with the considerable opposition to it. He discusses why many Christians are becoming activists, turning their faith into deeds by working for the liberation of the poor, not only in South America and the Third World, but in Canada as well.

He argues for a new ecumenism, permitting a more representative opinion within the Church and, in a larger sense, for what he believes are the fundamentals of a "just society". He says that there is a new realization that God is on the side of the oppressed the struggle for liberation. that Christians are here to help in

"This new ecclesiastical movement has been challenged by conservative Christians who lament that the churches have moved to the Left, and by a neo-conservative culture which wants to reconcile people to social inequality. Yet the movement is here to stay, because it is grounded in a new encounter with God."