A Leading Voice for Liberation

Thursday, July 3, 2025

CAC’s We Conspire publication explores the work of Brazilian Archbishop Dom Hélder Câmara (1909–1999), an advocate of liberation theology.  

Despite standing no taller than 5’1”, Dom Câmara was a giant in his convictions. He did not begin his career, though, as a champion of justice and nonviolence. In his early years as a priest, Câmara offered a faith-based voice for an authoritarian political movement in Brazil called “Brazilian Integralist Action.” A momentous exchange took place when the French Catholic Cardinal Gerlier urged Câmara to prioritize poverty as part of his work. The encounter became a transforming event in Câmara’s faith that he described as being “thrown to the ground like Saul on the road to Damascus” (Acts 9:1–19). [1] Câmara dedicated the rest of his life to organizing the wider church to consider the systemic causes of poverty and violence…. Considered a leading voice for peace and justice in the twentieth-century Catholic Church, Dom Hélder Câmara was informally called the “bishop of the slums” for his steadfast commitment to the urban poor and economic justice. [2] 

Here are a few of the convictions that Dom Câmara lived by:  

I would like to say to everyone: 

• Where [humanity] is, the church must be present. 
• The egoism of the rich presents a more serious problem than Communism.  
• Today’s world is threatened by the atom bomb of squalid poverty.  
• Profound changes must be made in order to establish justice in every sphere throughout the world.  
• Without a deep personal conversion, no one can become an instrument for the conversion of the world….  
• To revolutionize the world, the only thing needed is for us to live and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with real conviction.  
• Dire poverty is revolting and degrading; it taints the image of God in every [human]….
• My door and my heart are open to all—to all without exception.  
• Christ has prophesied what will happen at the last judgment: we shall be judged according to the way we have treated him in the persons of the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden. [3] 

Banned by the media in his own country, Dom Hélder Câmara traveled the world spreading the message of the gospel and liberation. He urged contemplative, inner transformation as necessary for structural changes in our systems and world. Câmara connected the work of liberation with the liberation that God provides:  

Just as the Father, the Creator, wants us to be co-creators, so the Son, the Redeemer, wants us to be co-redeemers. So, it is up to us to continue the work of liberation begun by the Son: the liberation from sin and the consequences of sin, the liberation from egoism and the consequences of egoism. That is what the theology of liberation means to us, and I see no reason why anyone should be afraid of a true, authentic theology of liberation. [4]   

______________________________________________________

Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

My children make it a pastime of judging one another–and themselves. But I am the only capable Judge, and I have acquitted you through My own blood. Your acquittal came at the price of My unparalleled sacrifice. That is why I am highly offended when I hear My children judge one another or indulge in self-hatred.
     If you live close to Me and absorb My Word, the Holy Spirit will guide and correct you as needed. There is no condemnation for those who belong to Me.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Luke 6:37 (NLT)
Do Not Judge Others
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.

Additional insight regarding Luke 6:37: A forgiving spirit demonstrates that a person has received God’s forgiveness. If we are critical rather than compassionate, we will also receive criticism. If we treat others generously, graciously, and compassionately, however, these qualities will come back to us in full measure. We are to love others, not judge them.

2 Timothy 4:8 (NLT)
8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

Additional insight regarding 2nd Timothy 4:8: Whatever we face – discouragement, persecution, or even death – we know we will receive a reward with Christ in Heaven.

Titus 3:5 (NLT)
5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Additional insight regarding Titus 3:4-6: All three persons of the Trinity are mentioned in these verses because all three participate in the work of salvation. Based upon the redemptive work of his Son, the Father forgives us and sends the Holy Spirit to wash away our sins and continually renew us.

 

Set Free for Freedom

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

The liberating message of the Gospels and his own lived experience has shaped the theology of Palestinian Anglican priest Naim Ateek. He writes: 

In 1948, I was a boy living in Beisan, a Palestinian town of six thousand people…. Beisan was a mixed town of Muslims and Christians and had a vibrant Christian community that belonged to three churches—Eastern Orthodox, Latin (Roman Catholic), and Anglican. I cherish fond memories of living in my hometown…. It was a beautiful town blessed for its delicious fruits and vegetables. It had freshwater springs flowing from the adjacent mountains irrigating people’s land and gardens. I still remember our garden and the variety of fruit trees my father planted and our family enjoyed.  

Our life was turned upside down when the Zionist militias came into Beisan in May 1948 and occupied us…. We were forced out of our homes at gunpoint and were ordered to meet at the center of town. The soldiers divided us into two groups, Muslims and Christians. The Muslims were sent to the country of Jordan, a few miles east of Beisan. The Christians were put on buses and driven to the outskirts of Nazareth, where they were dumped outside the city limits, never to be allowed to return home.  

When we arrived in Nazareth, we discovered that hundreds and thousands of Palestinians from the neighboring villages had suffered a similar fate. 

Ateek exhorts the church to stand with those who are suffering.   

Today the church continues to exist in the midst of a suffering and broken world. Every day there are men, women, and children who face war, famine, discrimination, violence, and poverty. The church has an ambiguous history in responding to these needs. At times the church has shown solidarity with the oppressed, while at other times it has been silent or complicit in their oppression.  

For us Christians, the model of Jesus Christ as seen in the Gospels exhorts us to love and care for our brothers and sisters in humanity. What does this care look like? How can we best love those who are marginalized or oppressed? What does it mean to confront and challenge injustice and oppression in both word and deed?  

In order to reflect on how we can respond to suffering, it is helpful to consider first the kind of life Jesus offers us:  

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).  

The life Christ offers us is life in all its fullness. This fullness is not offered in some distant, far-off future, but in our present circumstances. We are able to enter into the fullness of life because Christ has already achieved our liberation through his death and resurrection. Indeed, Christ is our liberator, and God in Christ wills that we should be free. Therefore, we need to stand firm and must not submit to anything that dehumanizes or enslaves us.  

______________________________________________

Sarah Young Jesus Calling

Let Me show you My way for you this day. I guide you continually, so you can relax and enjoy My Presence in the present. Living well is both a discipline and an art. Concentrate on staying close to Me, the divine Artist. Discipline your thoughts to trust Me as I work My ways in your life. Pray about everything; then, leave outcomes up to Me. Do not fear My will, for through it I accomplish what is best for you. Take a deep breath and dive in the depths of absolute trust in Me. Underneath are the everlasting arms!

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 5:2-3 (NLT)
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
    for I pray to no one but you.
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
    Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Additional insight regarding Psalm 5:1-3: The secret to a close relationship with God is to pray to him earnestly each morning. In the morning, our minds are more free from problems, and then we can commit the whole day to God. Regular communication helps any friendship and is certainly necessary for a strong relationship with God. We need to communicate with him daily. Do you have a regular time to pray and read God’s word?

Deuteronomy 33:27 (NLT)
27 The eternal God is your refuge,
    and his everlasting arms are under you.
He drives out the enemy before you;
    he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’

Additional insight regarding Deuteronomy 33:27: Moses’ song declares that God is our refuge, our only true security. How often we entrust our lives to other things – perhaps money, career, a noble cause, or a lifelong dream. But our only true refuge is the eternal God, who always holds out his arms to catch us when the shaky supports that we trust collapse and we fall. No storm can destroy us when we take refuge in him. Those without God, however, must forever be cautious. One mistake may wipe them out. Living for God in this world may look like risky business. But it is the godless who are on shaky ground. Because God is our refuge, we can dare to be bold.

Freedom Results from Action

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. 
—John Lewis, Across That Bridge 

Pastor Janelle Bruce reflects on how Jesus’ liberating acts in the temple (Mark 11:15–17) were the model for clergy-led Moral Monday protests in North Carolina and beyond:  

When Jesus comes to the temple, he drives out those who are selling and buying, and he overturns the tables of the money changers. He says, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’” 

Doing justice and overturning tables is not an option but a mandate. Holy disruption is a mandate for those who follow Christ, those who profess love as their religion, and those who believe in justice. While comfort leads us to accept more of the same, our faith calls us to disrupt that which harms God’s people. 

We cannot become so comfortable having a seat at the table that we refuse to flip it over when it becomes a tool of oppression. We cannot fail to act because we fear the consequences. I watched the radical work of the Forward Together Moral Movement when the group’s protests first began in 2013. I was awed by North Carolinians of different backgrounds standing together, with the crowd growing from dozens to hundreds to thousands, Monday after Monday. These holy disruptors fought against the destruction of voting rights, tax codes that would hurt the most vulnerable, and policies that would devastate students, the poor, the elderly, and African Americans…. For far too long, churches have depoliticized the gospel of Jesus that demands love and justice in action.  

Bruce names areas that deserve disruption in the United States today:  

When we have fewer voting rights today than we did fifty years ago, we need holy disruption. When seven hundred people die every day from poverty in the United States while the richest amass and hoard wealth, we must engage in holy disruption. Holy disruption demands that people be treated justly and reminds our legislators that they are servant-leaders who will be held accountable to the people. If we walk in the radical nature of Christ when we step into spaces of injustice, people will think, here comes trouble: good, liberating, loving, Christlike trouble!… 

On that first Moral Monday, Jesus showed us how to overturn tables. May we remember Jesus the revolutionary, the refugee, the prisoner, and the table turner. May we embody Jesus who fought for the poor, questioned corrupt religious establishments, and challenged the evil policies of the government. Just as Jesus disrupted the Roman Empire, we are the moral witnesses of today, and we are called to disrupt the unjust empires of our time. 

___________________________________________________

Jesus Calling Sarah Young

 I am leading you, step by step, through your life. Hold My hand in trusting dependence, letting Me guide you through this day. Your future looks uncertain and flimsy–even precarious. That is how it should be. Secret things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things. When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine. This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion: doubting My promises to care for you.
    Whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, repent and return to Me. I will show you the next step forward, and the one after that, and the one after that. Relax and enjoy the journey in My Presence, trusting Me to open up the way before you as you go. 

RELATED SCRIPTURE: 

Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT

29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.

Psalm 32:8 NLT

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

    I will advise you and watch over you.