Camilo Torres Restrepo

Camilo Torres Restrepo (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966) was a Colombian Catholic socialist 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.

Camilo Torres Restrepo

Quotes

• If Jesus was alive today, he would be a guerrillero.
• 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. Lenin, bent on eradicating what he felt was the real cause of injustice — economic exploitation — thought himself compelled to do away with all those strong enough to perpetuate it and, in so doing, set up the framework by which successful collectivization could be carried out by his successor, Stalin. 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 and Stalin.
  • Revolutionary Priest, The Complete Writings and Messages of Camilo Torres by John Gerassi (1971)
• 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

External links

• Marxists Internet Archive