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7 February 1909—27 August 1999

Ending the Spiral of Violence

The “bishop of the slums,” as Roman Catholic Archbishop Dom Hélder Câmara was called, was a tiny and stooped man, partly because of physical fragility but mainly because of his tireless advocacy, in the name of Christ, for the poor and oppressed of his native Brazil. But he never thought the work too much to bear. “If people are too heavy for you,” he once said, “carry them in your heart, not on your shoulders!”

Câmara captured world attention in 1962 when, attending the Second Vatican Council in simple cassock and wooden cross, he urged his more resplendently dressed fellow bishops to give their gold and silver pectoral crosses to the poor. Conservative Catholic officials disapproved of his outspoken gospel-based concern for the poor and urged him to keep quiet. But Câmara defied them by issuing a statement at the end of the Council that made it clear to everyone where his ministry lay. “Almost 2,000 years after the death of Christ, at a time when the Declaration on Religious Liberty is to be promulgated, nearly two-thirds of humans live in a subhuman condition that makes it impossible for them to understand the true meaning of liberty.”

For the next twenty-five years, until his retirement, Câmara agitated on behalf of Brazil’s urban poor, chairing housing projects, encouraging the growth of labor unions, launching a national nonviolent movement called “Action, Justice, and Peace,” and continually urging the U.S.-backed Brazilian junta to move closer to democracy. His voice was so troublesome that the government ultimately banned him from public speaking or publishing for nearly fifteen years.

One of Câmara’s central convictions was that the violence that fragments the world is caused primarily by structural injustice that economically crushes the many for the benefit of the few. He called this the first and most basic level of violence. In desperate response to structural injustice, the oppressed rise up in violent rebellion—the second level of violence—which in turn is savagely repressed by the powers that be—the third level. Violence, Câmara saw, is a “spiral” that perpetuates itself ceaselessly as long as the first level endures. But violent revolution is no solution to oppression, he insisted. It will only bring more violence and not the longed-for justice. A much more effective tool for putting an end to the spiral of violence is stepping outside of it by engaging in nonviolent direct action against structural injustice—strikes, boycotts, appeals to public conscience. For Câmara, this strategy exemplified the spirit of Jesus.

Although detested and feared by governmental authorities, Câmara was beloved by the Brazilian people for his courage in living his faith. “Denunciation of injustice,” he told them, “is an absolutely essential chapter in the proclamation of the Gospel.” And, he added, it’s “an absolute duty for shepherds.”