In January 2003, during the third edition of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, in a meeting between theologians, the idea arose of carrying out an activity on Liberation Theology in the programming of the World Social Forum. In July of the same year, during the Conference “Christianity and Society in Latin America” held at PUC in São Paulo, there was a meeting with representatives of the organizations that had promoted this conference, in order to discuss the idea.
The group decided to carry out the proposal, joining efforts with similar initiatives in the Porto Alegre region. Thus, at a meeting in Porto Alegre, on December 11 and 12, 2003, from various entities represented, an Organizing Committee was set up to carry out what gained the dimension of a “World Forum on Theology and Liberation” (WFTL) , which would be held on the eve of the then next WSF. A Local Committee was also created, integrating people and entities from the southern region of Brazil. This group, from then on, took on the challenge of carrying out the logistics of the forum, based on the objectives, justifications, methodology and budget defined at that meeting. The main lines were already given, and once the project was detailed, it would be sent to international entities.