Hélder Câmara

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Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara (February 7, 1909, Fortaleza, Ceará, North East Brazil - August 27, 1999 Recife) was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife. He was widely considered one of the great Catholic figures of the 20th century.

He was a major precursor to Latin American liberation theology. While his theology was too ordinary to be identified with that of the later liberation theologians (e.g. Gustavo Gutierrez), he influenced the movement by his uncompromising commitment to the poor. He retired as archbishop in 1985, and lived to see many of his reforms rolled back by his conservative successors.

He is famous for stating, "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."

Camara's short tract, "Spiral of Violence" (1971), was written at the time of the Vietnam war. It is distinctive not just for the manner in which it links structural injustice (Level 1 violence) with escalating rebellion (Level 2 violence) and repressive reaction (Level 3 violence), but also for the way in which Camara calls upon the youth of the world to take steps for breaking the spiral to which their elders are often addicted. This book has been out of print for about 20 years (in the UK), but a scanned version is now available on the web (posthumously authorised by Camara) at the link given below.