Camilo Torres Restrepo
Camilo Torres Restrepo (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966) was a Colombian Catholic communist revolutionary, an ordained priest, and a member of the National Liberation Army (ELN). During his life, he advocated for liberation theology by trying to reconcile revolutionary socialism and Roman Catholicism.
Quotes
[edit]- If Jesus was alive today, he would be a guerrillero.[1]
- Spartacus, for example, wanted to put an end to slavery and killing and had to do it fast lest he himself die in the gladiators’ ring. To succeed, he had to kill those bent on killing him. He hoped to eliminate political injustice completely and, to do so, felt he had to eliminate all the unjust. Robespierre hoped to eliminate political injustice completely and, to do so, felt he had to eliminate all the unjust. Lenin and Trotsky, bent on eradicating what they felt was the real cause of injustice—economic exploitation—thought themselves compelled to do away with all those strong enough to perpetuate it and, in so doing, set up the framework by which arbitrary elimination could be carried out by their successor, Stalin. Yet, for all their faults, who would say that the world is not better off today as a result? Only one who has never been a slave could condemn Spartacus. Only one who has never been politically irrelevant could condemn Robespierre. Only one who has never been hungry could condemn Lenin.
- Revolutionary Priest, The Complete Writings and Messages of Camilo Torres by John Gerassi (1971)
- The catholic who is not a revolutionary is living in mortal sin.[2]
- I am not nor will i ever be a communist.[3]
- The main thing in Catholicism is love for one's neighbour. "He who loves his neighbour fulfils his law." (St. Paul, Rom. XIII, 8). This love, to be true, must seek effectiveness. If charity, alms, the few free schools, the few housing schemes, what has been called "charity", is not enough to feed the majority of the hungry, nor to clothe the majority of the naked, nor to teach the majority of those who do not know, we must seek effective means for the well-being of the majority.
- The Church's temporary defects should not scandalize us. The Church is human. What is important is to believe that she is also divine and that if we Christians fulfill our obligation to love our neighbor, we are strengthening the Church.
- I have left the privileges and duties of the clergy, but I have not stopped being a priest. I believe that I have given myself to the Revolution out of love for my neighbor. I have stopped saying Mass in order to realize this love for my neighbor, in the temporal, economic and social realms. When my neighbor has nothing against me, when I have accomplished the Revolution, I will return to offering Mass if God allows me. I believe that in this way I am following Christ's command: "If you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (St. Matthew V, 23-24).
- Message to Christians
- The problems of divorce and birth control that Colombian women believe they can resolve within a conformist and oppressive system cannot be resolved except within a system that respects people's conscience and individual, family and social rights. They cannot be resolved except when there is a State that has true autonomy and at the same time respect in relation to the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
- Message to Women
- For the unity of the popular class, until death! For the organization of the popular class, until death! For the seizure of power for the working class, until death! Until death, because we are determined to go all the way. Until victory, because a people who give themselves up until death always achieve victory. Until the final victory, with the slogans of the NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY. Not one step back... Liberation or death!
- Proclamation to the Colombian people
- If you, Mr Cardinal, loved your neighbour, you would have given your wealth to the poor, because Christ's order is specifically aimed at bishops and cardinals: 'If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor ... (Matthew 19:21).20... Have you forgotten all this, Mr Cardinal, with your luxurious car, palaces, and regal train, with which we could dress the poor? Have they forgotten it, the bishops and the religious groups, so full of riches, who rant so much against Communism but give nothing or only a few bits of crumbs to the poor? So let us not talk about love and hate or Marxism and Pharisaic Christianity. We are dealing with deeds and facts. You talk of country, but I must remind you that 'country' does not mean the hundred privileged families. Country, besides history, traditions, and territory, means people, the people who labour to fertilize fields, open roads, move machines, serve in the army, and create scientists, artists, and heroes. These people deserve the best. But you, Mr Cardinal, by your deeds, prefer one hundred superficial and exploiting families who organize balls while the people wail over their dead, who attend races, blessed by you, where the horses receive better care than the children of Peru. The patriots are not those who send their millions to foreign banks but those who, ignored by the church and state, take their place in the sublime struggle against exploitation. The patriots are not those who deliver our national wealth to thieving imperialism but those proud Peruvians who demand that Peru's riches belong to Peruvians ...The main culprits for the present convulsion are not the Communists but Yankee imperialists and the perjurers and Pharisees who use religion as a puppet show... The people are no longer a flock of sheep, as before. And the church must change itself, not by creating new liturgies, for which it would be ridiculous to convene an ecumenical council, but by condemning the bombs, the imperialists, and the colonialists, by giving the right to the people to choose their bishops, by supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights... There is a new Christ: the exploited peoples of the world. There is a new murdering Barrabas - imperialism and its lackeys. Let not the same error be committed now - forgiving Barrabas and crucifying Christ. Let the bishops of Peru fulfil their duty, or they shall pass into history as bishops who condemned the righteous and the patriots - and destroyed the church...
- Revolutionary Priest, The Complete Writings and Messages of Camilo Torres by John Gerassi (1971)
