Wikipedia

Camilo Torres Restrepo: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
no redlinked categories; only categories that actually exist are permitted
(2 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown)
Line 22:
| church = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
| ordained = 1954 (priest)
|laicized=June 1965}}
}}
'''Camilo Torres Restrepo''' (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966) was a Colombian [[RomanChristian socialism|Catholic socialist]] priest, a proponent of [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxism-Leninismrevolutionary]], andan [[liberationordained theology]]priest, and a member of the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army]] (ELN). During his life, he triedadvocated tofor [[Christianliberation communism|reconciletheology]] by trying to reconcile [[Revolutionaryrevolutionary socialism|revolutionary]] and [[Marxism]]Catholic andChurch|Roman [[Catholicism]]. His social activism and willingness to work with Marxists troubled some.<ref>Bushnell, David. "Camilo Torres Restrepo". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 5, 258-59</ref>
 
As part of the academic staff of the [[National University of Colombia]], he was a co-founder of the Sociology Faculty together with [[Orlando Fals Borda]], as well as some intellectuals such as Eduardo Umaña Luna, María Cristina Salazar, [[Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda]], Carlos Escalante, [[Darío Botero]] and Tomás Ducay, in 1960.<ref>{{cite web |title=A 51 años de la muerte de Camilo Torres: "Insistamos en lo que nos une y prescindamos de lo que nos separa" (51 years after the death of Camilo Torres: "Let us insist on what unites us and do without what separates us") |url=https://desinformemonos.org/51-anos-la-muerte-camilo-torres-insistamos-lo-nos-une-prescindamos-lo-nos-separa/ |publisher=Desinformémonos |access-date=27 June 2022 |location=Colombia |language=Spanish |date=15 February 2017}}</ref>
Line 29:
His involvement in several student and [[political movement]]s during the time won him a large following as well as many detractors, especially from the Colombian government and the church itself. Due to the growing pressure to back down from his [[Political radicalism|radical]] politics, Camilo Torres was [[political oppression|persecuted]] and went into hiding (leaving his job as an [[academic]]) by joining the guerrillas in Colombia.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:CamiloTorres 2.jpg|thumb|Camilo Torres]] -->
He served as a low-ranking member of the ELN to whom he also provided spiritual assistance and inspiration from a [[Christian communist|Catholic Christian communist]] point of view. He was killed in his first combat engagement when the ELN ambushed a Colombian Military patrol.<ref>Bushnell, "Camilo Torres Restrepo", 259.</ref><ref>SDS Regional Newsletter, Mar. 8, 1966, Vol. 1, no. 8 [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt5x0nb165&chunk.id=d0e169&brand=oac4&doc.view=entire_text] Winter 1966 MFU Catalog [http://midpeninsulafreeu.com/images/4.pdf]</ref> After his death, Camilo Torres was made an official [[martyr]] of the ELN.
 
He is perhaps best known for the quote: "If Jesus were alive today, He would be a guerrillero."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jiménez |first=Fiorella López |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0I3HtwAACAAJ |title="If Jesus Were Alive Today, He Would be a Guerrillero": The Impact of Liberation Theology Movements in Latin American Politics |date=2011 |publisher=Lake Forest College |language=en}}</ref> Camilo Torres, along with [[Gustavo Gutiérrez|Gustavo Gutierrez]], [[Hélder Câmara|Helder Camara]] and [[Des Wilson (Irish Catholic priest)|Des WIlsonWilson]], is one of the most important figures in the history of liberation theology. He was a life-long friend of fellow socialist [[Luis Villar Borda]] and Colombian writer [[Gabriel García Márquez]]. In the [[Dominican Republic]] in 1970, a revolutionary group that included Catholic clergy members and university students was founded under the name [[CORECATO]], which stood for Comando Revolucionario Camilo Torres (Revolutionary Command Camilo Torres). In New York City, San Romero of the Americas Church-UCC has founded the Camilo Torres Project in 2009. This project works for social justice and peace for the people of the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] community.
 
{{Christian socialism sidebar}}
 
== Biography ==
Line 102 ⟶ 104:
{{blockquote|I have left the privileges and duties of the clergy, but I have not ceased to be a priest. I believe that I have given myself up to the Revolution out of love of neighbour. I have stopped saying [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] to realise this love of neighbour, in the temporal, economic and social fields. When my neighbour has nothing against me, when I have achieved the Revolution, I will offer mass again, if God allows me to do so. I believe that in this way I follow the command of [[Christ]]: "If you bring your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come and present your offering" ([[Gospel of Saint Matthew|Saint Matthew]] V, 23-24). |Camilo Torres, "Mensaje a los cristianos", ''Frente Unido'', no. 1, 26/08/1965, Bogotá.<ref name=Torres/>}}
 
In the ELN, Torres participated as a low-ranking member and provided spiritual and ideological assistance from a Marxist-ChristianCatholic socialist point of view. However, his performance as a guerrilla was poor as he was not used to the arduous training (being assisted by a comrade) and to carrying a rifle, so he was barely given a pistol and was emphasised for his role of spiritual and ideological assistance as well as being a good cook. He died in his first combat experience, when the ELN ambushed a patrol of the [[Colombian National Army|National Army]]. After his death, Camilo Torres became an official martyr of the ELN.
 
=== Death ===
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camilo_Torres_Restrepo"