Frei Tito
| Frei Tito | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Tito de Alencar Lima September 14, 1945 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil |
| Died |
August 10, 1974 (aged 28) Sainte Marie de La Tourette, Éveux, France |
| Cause of death | Suicide by hanging |
| Nationality |
 Brazilian |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic friar |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Frei Tito, OP (14 September 1945 - 10 August 1974) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic friar who was tortured during his country's military dictatorship.[1]
Biography
Tito was the director of the Association of Youth Catholic Students in 1963 and went to live in Recife, Pernambuco in the same year. In October 1968, he was first arrested by repressive forces of the dictatorship for participating in the XX Congress of the National Union of Students in Ibiúna, São Paulo.
On November 4, 1969, Tito was arrested along with several other members of the Dominican Order, such as Frei Betto, by political police officer Sérgio Fleury of the Department of Political and Social Order (DPSO). During approximately a whole month, Tito was severely tortured in the headquarters of DPSO, before being taken to the Presidio Tiradentes.
On early 1970, at the high of the repression, Tito was tortured in the headquarters of DPSO as a part of the Bandeirantes Operation (which consisted of the financing of torture by high-profile businessmen). At prison, Tito wrote a letter about his torture which became a symbol in the human rights movement.
On 1971, Tito was deported to Chile and, fearing for his life with the fall of Salvador Allende, he fled to Italy. In Rome, he was unable to find support from the Catholic Church, once he was considered a "terrorist friar". He then moved to Paris, where he found some support inside the Dominican Order.
At this point, Tito's mental health was very unstable, as a result of the torture he suffered in Brazil. The abuses led him to persecution mania; he constantly feared a rencontre with Fleury and his other torturers. He submitted to psychiatric treatment, but the psychological suffering made him commit suicide on August 10, 1974.[2]
Movie
The movie Batismo de Sangue (Baptism of Blood) tells the story of Tito and other priests' torture during the military regime.
See also
- Frei Betto
- Sister Maurina
- Batismo de Sangue
- Cidadão Boilesen (2009)
References
External links
- (Portuguese) "Um homem torturado - análise psicanalítica da degradação que Frei Tito sofreu com a tortura" ("A tortured man - psychoanalytic analysis of the degradation Frei Tito suffered as a result of torture") from the Brazilian site of the Dominican Order
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