CAC’s We Conspire publication explores the work of Brazilian Archbishop Dom Hélder Câmara (1909–1999), an advocate of liberation theology.
Despite standing no taller than 5’1”, Dom Câmara was a giant in his convictions. He did not begin his career, though, as a champion of justice and nonviolence. In his early years as a priest, Câmara offered a faith-based voice for an authoritarian political movement in Brazil called “Brazilian Integralist Action.” A momentous exchange took place when the French Catholic Cardinal Gerlier urged Câmara to prioritize poverty as part of his work. The encounter became a transforming event in Câmara’s faith that he described as being “thrown to the ground like Saul on the road to Damascus” (Acts 9:1–19). [1] Câmara dedicated the rest of his life to organizing the wider church to consider the systemic causes of poverty and violence…. Considered a leading voice for peace and justice in the twentieth-century Catholic Church, Dom Hélder Câmara was informally called the “bishop of the slums” for his steadfast commitment to the urban poor and economic justice. [2]
Here are a few of the convictions that Dom Câmara lived by:
I would like to say to everyone:
- Where [humanity] is, the church must be present.
- The egoism of the rich presents a more serious problem than Communism.
- Today’s world is threatened by the atom bomb of squalid poverty.
- Profound changes must be made in order to establish justice in every sphere throughout the world.
- Without a deep personal conversion, no one can become an instrument for the conversion of the world….
- To revolutionize the world, the only thing needed is for us to live and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with real conviction.
- Dire poverty is revolting and degrading; it taints the image of God in every [human]….
- My door and my heart are open to all—to all without exception.
- Christ has prophesied what will happen at the last judgment: we shall be judged according to the way we have treated him in the persons of the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden. [3]
Banned by the media in his own country, Dom Hélder Câmara traveled the world spreading the message of the gospel and liberation. He urged contemplative, inner transformation as necessary for structural changes in our systems and world. Câmara connected the work of liberation with the liberation that God provides:
Just as the Father, the Creator, wants us to be co-creators, so the Son, the Redeemer, wants us to be co-redeemers. So, it is up to us to continue the work of liberation begun by the Son: the liberation from sin and the consequences of sin, the liberation from egoism and the consequences of egoism. That is what the theology of liberation means to us, and I see no reason why anyone should be afraid of a true, authentic theology of liberation. [4]
References:
[1] As quoted in Dom Hélder Câmara: Essential Writings, selected by Francis McDonagh (Orbis Books, 2009), 24.
[2] Adapted from “A Vision for Liberation,” We Conspire (March 2025), Center for Action and Contemplation.
[3] Dom Hélder Câmara: Essential Writings, 65–66.
[4] Hélder Câmara, The Conversions of a Bishop: An Interview with José de Broucker, trans. Hilary Davies (Collins, 1979), 170–171, quoted in “A Vision for Liberation,” We Conspire (March 2025).
Image credit and inspiration: Sushil Nash, untitled (detail), 2020, photo, United Kingdom, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. The fist is a simple but mighty symbol of resistance, solidarity, and unity in the face of oppression and injustice. An innate desire for the liberation of the oppressed also results in the unexpected liberation of the oppressor.
Story from Our Community:
As a young woman, I was a sworn atheist, in my 30s an agnostic, and now at 50, I find myself falling more and more in love with Christ and the Divine Mother. I’m now thinking—how did that happen? I’ve been reading these Daily Meditations for several years now, and they’ve had a profound impact on my life. For me, one of the most essential aspects of Daily Meditations is the translation of Christ’s message into real, tangible, and loving Truth. I know it has helped me and others unravel the toxic stories of the church and Christian religious history. As a result, I’ve found a kind of spiritual liberation. I am so grateful.
—Em S.
